Posts Tagged ‘speech delay’
The Therapist Who Helped Me See My Boy
I want to thank and honor my son’s first speech therapist, Elizabeth. She, with one sentence, gave me the strength and hope for this journey we are on, and even though she isn’t our speech therapist anymore (he goes through the school district now that he is four), I replay what she said to me often. Sometimes daily. Sometimes multiple times a day. She helped me see my boy. The amazing boy he is. And not just an imaginary “what if” doom and gloom version of his life. One sentence…
Read MoreThe Day I Found out my Child had Autism
Being a mom of three is hard work, especially when you are a mom of a very special little boy who happens to have Autism. As of now Connor is almost 3 years old. It doesn’t seem very long ago when we were at his 18 month well child. My world turned upside down as his MCHAT scored him high risk for Autism. I don’t typically cry and part of me is really embarrassed that I cried, especially since I had a feeling anyway. He showed all of the signs.…
Read MoreAnd Another Makes Two
Four months after I found out I was pregnant with my daughter J, I began to have concerns about my son PB’s development. He wasn’t answering to his name, he avoided eye contact, and his speech wasn’t where it should have been. After doing some of my own research, the same thing kept popping up. Autism. I fought hard not to accept that. There was no way my son had autism. I just couldn’t fathom that. But several referrals, early intervention appointments, speech therapy appointments, occupational therapy appointments, and an…
Read MoreYou are More Than Just Teachers; You are Family
When I was 18 weeks pregnant with my oldest child I started researching daycare centers. I visited a few and while they were all beautiful, in new buildings with state of the art facilities and big corporate names attached, I always felt like I was being sold something, and not like they genuinely cared about being with my child for so many hours each week. Then I visited Little Hands Academy (LHA), which didn’t even come up on my GPS as I was trying to visit it for the first…
Read MoreThe Honesty of Six Year Old Boys
Our world is completely different than it was less than a week ago. A week ago we lived in a neighborhood without any children. So, our five year old son Sawyer really depended a lot on mom and dad for entertainment. He had a bit more screen time than he probably should have. He often told me he was lonely. He wanted more friends. This week, we live in a new house in a neighborhood full of children. All kids Sawyer’s age. All wanting to play and have fun. On…
Read MoreThat Moment When
For some reason I thought about autism when my girls were babies. I kept track of their milestones, and as they grew, I was reassured when they continued meeting them within the normal range. A new school for autism was being built just down the street from us when our first was a baby, and I remember thinking to myself, “I sure hope we won’t ever have a need for that school”. I thought about autism with our son Austin as well. Just once when he was a newborn. I remember…
Read MoreI’m Thankful For You: My Daughter Olivia
(Editor’s Note: This article was provided by Melissa Prater and is part of Cooper’s, ‘I’m Thankful For You’ Campaign.) This December I would like to honor and thank my daughter Olivia. She is my rock. A little bit about our family. We are a family of four but a village of many. My husband works full time and I get the privilege to stay home. We have two children ages 5 and 16. Jack is my youngest and is diagnosed with ADHD, a speech delay and is on the autism spectrum.…
Read MoreI’m Thankful For You: My Daughter, My Son’s Best Friend
(Editor’s Note: This article was provided by Amy Vipond and is part of Cooper’s, ‘I’m Thankful For You’ Campaign.) This November, I am so thankful for my daughter Olivia, who is 4 1/2 who is literally my son, Jace’s, best friend. She doesn’t see him as different, she only sees him as her brother, or ”baby” as she still calls him! When Olivia was younger, she had a speech delay. She could only say a handful of words, but everything else was right on track for her development. So we…
Read MoreMost Of All, I Teach You Giving
This. Always this. I do not gift you with clever conversation, cute remarks to be laughed over and repeated. If you allow me, I will teach you what is really important in life. I gift you with my innocent trust, my dependency upon you. I teach you giving. Most of all, I teach you hope and faith.
Read MoreCooper's Talking Device
Hi all, I wanted to share a video of Cooper’s talking device. Cooper has been using it at school for a little over 3 months and we are just starting to use it at home. Much like everything else I find it to be a little overwhelming. Sometimes I feel like it’s just ‘another’ thing we are trying. But in saying that his speech therapists are RAVING about his successes with it. He can say up to 6 word sentences. An example would be: ‘I want to eat yogurt please.’…
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