Posts Tagged ‘speech therapy’
Our Daughter was Nonverbal
Our daughter was nonverbal. She did not sing. She did not make noises. She did not imitate. She did not point. We were repeatedly told she might not ever talk. Every time I heard this sentence it was overwhelming. Then we got the call from aeiou – an early intervention centre in Brisbane Australia. A place was available. A full time placement. My anxiety peaked. A full time placement for my nonverbal toddler. Do they REALLY understand what nonverbal is? How serious this is? Do they really know what they…
Read MoreAutism and Waiting On Those First Words
Autism. That word describes so many people. So many…different people. Have you heard the saying, “If you have met one person with autism, you have met that one person with autism?” How true is that? If you live on this roller coaster ride, that is autism, you know this to be true. You can’t talk to someone else about their journey, and expect yours to go the exact same way. You just take YOUR journey, one day at a time. I had to learn this, the hard way. “When did…
Read MoreI’m Thankful For You: My Son’s Village
(Editor’s Note: This article was provided by Nikki Wallace and is part of Cooper’s, ‘I’m Thankful For You’ Campaign.) This December I am honoring and thanking my son’s mighty village. I have so many people that I am grateful for that I don’t even know where to start. First, I want to thank my son’s aide Mrs. Angie Flint. She has been with us for two years now and she is like a second mom to my nonverbal six year old. When he is with her I never have to worry.…
Read MoreI’m Thankful For You: My Daughter’s Grandma
(Editor’s Note: This article was provided by Katie McGregory and is part of Cooper’s, ‘I’m Thankful For You’ Campaign.) This November, I want to honor my mom Julie. She’s my number one partner in this autism journey. Yes, I have a husband, but he works and is not as involved in the autism/therapy/insurance stuff on a daily basis. My mom is the first person I usually call about Addie’s accomplishments, about ABA, speech, etc. She’s been to many important appointments and evaluations with me. She’s read books and educated herself…
Read MoreWe've Been Hiding Out
So where have we been?!?! Soaking up summer the good old fashioned way! Cooper is done with preschool for the summer and is only attending Fraser. Which is still five days a week. He is also getting speech 1x per week and OT 1x per week. He handled the transition like a boss. As rigid as he can be that kid can go with the flow on so many other things. We found out that Cooper knows all of his letters and numbers up to 10. He also knows his…
Read MoreI See an IEP Fight In My Future
Cooper’s pediatrician called me yesterday. I about pooped my pants when I saw the number on caller ID. I always think the worst for some reason. But it was a good call. She was following through with us about the Developmental Pediatrician. Apparently, in the whole entire state of Minnesota, there is one clinic that is currently taking new patients. Um…WOW. And since there is a 9 month wait she recommends that we make the appointment and hopefully things improve and we can cancel it. I like her positive attitude. She…
Read MoreHow Can You Hate Everything?
“It’s not humanly possible that you hate everything Cooper. Unless, you aren’t human and you were sent to this earth to make me insane. Then, I guess yes, it might be possible.” Then I looked deep into his eyes to see if maybe he was indeed an alien. Nope. No sign. This is something I said to Cooper yesterday on the way home from his first occupational Therapy appointment. Let me remind you that this place is amazing and the therapist is an angel. An actual angel. She had the…
Read MoreJust Make The Call
I can’t do it. I can’t make myself physically pick up the phone and call for this service. Life is not fair. I can’t do another evaluation. I don’t want him to need special ed. What else can I add onto that…How about put a damn email address on here so mom’s like me don’t have to make initial contact with a phone call. Ease me into it as they say.
Read MoreAnother Occupational Therapy Evaluation In The Books
We had Cooper’s Occupational Therapy Evaluation yesterday morning. I am wearing my new positive hat (AKA…The ‘I am going to positive if it freaking kills me’ hat) and there were many ‘good’ things that came from the evaluation. First, this lady is A-MAZ-ING! If you could pick the exact person you would want to work with your child it would be this woman. She is patient and sweet and knew exactly how to work with Cooper. We have had people in the past that didn’t know how to handle him…
Read MoreOccupational Therapy and Super Human Mommy Strength
In the meeting on Wednesday, Cooper’s speech therapist recommended that Cooper start Occupational Therapy. And she even recommended a place to go. Woo-Hoo! I called right away on Wednesday and made an appointment for Friday to meet with her. Well, Friday morning Cooper woke up pissed off at the world. He wanted Oreo cookies for breakfast and was really confused as to why he couldn’t have them. So, the whining started early. And my patience got worn early. And I was worried about his behavior during the appointment. Coop’s and I left…
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