James Update

When we went to James's 2-Year appointment, our pediatrician recommended putting James into speech therapy through a company called Kids on the Move. It's a state-funded program, where we as a family only pay about 20$ a month, and with some families it's actually free. We set up the at-home evaluation a couple of weeks ago and the speech therapist and referral specialist came and basically had a 2.5 hour play date with James. It was so interesting to watch him interact with them - he absolutely loved all of the attention and the games they played with him. I was worried about him not showing them what he actually can and can't say/do yet, but he did really well. They test him on lots of different aspects of communication, and if he falls at "moderate delay" or below, he qualifies for the program. After the tests, they found him to have only a mild delay in all categories, but the speech therapist still felt that he needed speech therapy despite what the tests showed, so by writing her own personal clinical review, he can still be enrolled in the program. They think that because of all his ear infections, a lot of what he was hearing were underwater sounds, which is why some of his sounds still sound like he's under water. That plus his cataract problem, which prevented him from seeing us form our words clearly, is probably why he's still not speaking clearly at all.

The speech therapist will come twice a month to work with him, although it's more of a parent education class. Since I'm with him all day, I'll know what tools and activities to use with him. What I love about this entire program is that it isn't just about speech. They will be sending out a nurse next week to do an entire physical screening on him, while focusing on his sense of hearing. This program also offers specialists on behavior and eating habits. If I wanted to, they would actually come to my house to observe James during the times of day I'm concerned about. I can also have unlimited access to their library in Orem where I can check out toys and other activities that focus on certain skills. For now, I'm going to enroll us in a "Positive Discipline" class. I'm really excited about finding ways to help shape James's behavior around other kids, especially for when Lily arrives!

Super excited to get the classes going and see what the future holds!