We had our first session with the Speech Pathologist today. As of this moment we now have many, many questions and no answers. Why are Emmett's orofacial muscles weak? How do we strengthen them? Why can he sit with a pen and fill a sheet of paper with tiny squiggles but cannot undress for a bath without a lot of help? Why does he focus intently on a toy, but won't make eye contact with his playmate? The speech pathologist seems to think his reactions to certain stressful situations are inappropriately intense. She also doesn't think he interacts with people in an age-appropriate way. This means more referrals and more waiting. One referral is with the occupational therapist in her department, and one is with a pediatrician who specializes in child development. We are in for a loooooong wait for the doc appointment. The OT will probably be in a week or two.
I am so happy we are starting to get the wheels in motion to get Emmett better, but I am so scared of these newly uncovered issues. I didn't realize how complex his situation was. I always saw the other problems but I was very quick to dismiss them--Moms are so good at looking at their children with rose-tinted glasses, we don't like having them removed.
6 comments:
I'm glad that your first session with the SP was productive, and feel for you about the new issues. Hopefully early intervention will be helpful. My best friend's sons both have issues extremely similiar to what you described and it is far more difficult to deal with at age 6 and 4. Perhaps then it is best the SP removed the glasses, rather than the problem get severe enough to where you had to remove them yourself.
My thoughts are with you dealing with these issues.
And Happy belated birthday to Charlotte. I keep forgetting to tell you that.
(briezee on digs)
I think you'll surprise yourself with your strength. I really do. And you are correct in that you are getting the wheels in motion to figure it out, so you can work on it.
Don't be scared. All you can do is wait and see, right? Someone once said to me, "You can't worry about the future because you can't see into the future."
And it's true. Just take it day to day.
I'll be thinking of you too!
Thank you both for your kind words. It means so much to me. I know we will get through this--Emm is a smart little guy and we are finally getting the help we need. I just have to wrap my brain around these new things.
Brie--I know you are from Digs! I read your blog too. You and Yarn Harlot are inspiring me to try sock knitting. :-)
:)
I wasn't sure if you made the connection and didn't want you thinking a random person was following you. :)
Hmm, yeah, I probably should get back to my sock if I ever want a pair. I have the attention span of a gnat recently which doesn't mesh so well with school. My attention drifts about 10 minutes into the lecture. Oops.
You're a good mom, and I know that this seems like so much. But you just put one foot in front of the other and slowly walk along your path. You'll do fine. And now that you're losing so much weight you'll walk it easier, too, you fabulous woman, you.
Poppins
Just blog surfing, and wanted to let you know that even though it's a scary road, our kids will continue to surprise as at every turn. I have 3 boys, 2 of them have Aspergers (a form of autism) and my youngest currently has a severe language delay as well. Right now your kids have the best thing going for them - parents that love them and care enough to get them the help they need!
Good luck, I know it's frustrating with the waiting lists here in Canada sometimes. You are not alone.
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