Speech-Day 1

We have known that Paxton wasn't exactly where he should be with his speech for awhile. At his two-year well visit, Dr. Campbell said that he should be saying at least 50 words, using two-word sentences and using pronouns. He wasn't doing any of that. I knew I wanted to be proactive about this so he would be caught up by the time he started school so I asked about speech. Dr. Campbell said to give him 2 months to catch up and if he hadn't reached those milestones, we could try speech.

Six weeks passed and he hadn't made much improvement so when we went in for Porter's two week check-up, I told Dr. Campbell I was ready.

It took awhile to get the paperwork sent through and I ended up having to call to get things rolling, but we finally did. The evaluation wasn't terrible. Paxton did really well for the first half, and I was impressed at all the colors he identified and the pictures he could point out. But then things started getting harder and he just wanted to play. Then the lady evaluating Paxton would offer him something fun and then take it away until he answered her question...he hated it. He threw a massive fit. The other lady that was helping got down on the floor with Paxton and played cars with him and asked him questions. This helped us get a little further into the exam. The first lady kept insisting that he come back and sit at the table and then would tease him with a fun toy...things didn't go well. They ended up having to ask me the rest of the questions.

A few weeks later, we got assigned a therapist and were scheduled to start with Anna today. Paxton recognized the building as we pulled up and said "pee" for speech. For the first session, she mostly wanted to just get to know Paxton so they did some puzzles and played with Mr. Potato Head and stacked some cups. Paxton didn't really say much which was kind of disappointing...she kept asking him the colors and he wouldn't say anything. He also threw a couple fits when she would try to change activities. At the end, she was talking to me about the process and what she thought of him. She was very positive, but she said, "he's definitely delayed" and even though I knew that, it hurt to hear. I know he's a smart little kid. He already knows his colors and all his body parts and has several of his books memorized, but it is very hard to hear the word "delayed" in reference to your child.

I'm glad we have started this now, and I know all he needs is a little help and a chance to focus on saying the words right instead of just blurting out his attempt. I'm excited to watch his progress and start hearing him say real words.


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