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 changed all our lives.
I don’t think people realize how sometimes the absolute simplest, shortest statement can be everything someone needs.
People often want to say some profound, deep, eloquent, original philosophical statement.
And that is amazing. But sometimes what someone needs to hear most is the simple thing.
The simple thing that is deep down the most important to remember.
At 2 years old my son was assessed to have the expressive speech of a 9 month old.
Throughout the assessment process I was constantly bombarded with negatives and “doom and gloom” and lists of what he couldn’t do.
It was heartbreaking. One of the darkest times of my life.
It was incredibly hard for me because my husband and I are both high school teachers, and all I could think of was how cruel kids can be, and imagining the worst case scenario for my beautiful little boy.
One of the first times we met with Elizabeth, she was at our house just observing him. Not saying anything. Just watching. And pondering.
She looked at me and said in such a matter of fact tone of voice…
“Wow…he is SO smart, and he has the KINDEST little heart. Wow.”
He wasn’t a list of assessment scores. He wasn’t a list of delays. He wasn’t a list of IEP goals.
He was Jason. He is SO smart. He is SO kind.
I am crying just writing this. It’s what matters.
He is kind. He will have a wonderful life.
He has made our lives wonderful.
Elizabeth helped me, and still helps me, focus my mind and heart on that. And I will be forever thankful for her.
Jason is now doing amazing with speech by the way! He has almost caught up to his age level!
He babbles on about outer space and rocket ships, makes us watch go pro videos of them doing space walks, and loves building things.
He has developed a mild stutter that doesn’t seem to be going away, but boy can that boy communicate now!
Thank you Elizabeth for giving me strength and hope.
Written by, Stephanie Farmer
My name is Stephanie Farmer. My son Jason has been in speech therapy for two years now. He will be four in November. My husband and I are both high school teachers at the same school. I teach chemistry and he teaches AP Economics. We live in the Bay Area in California with our two kids, our crazy cats and dog.
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