z's speech.

z is 21 months old, and 4 days. over a month ago, we had z evaluated by a speech pathologist at ohsu. i really just wanted advice from a speech professional on how to encourage and develop his speech, but had to get him evaluated first. i'm assuming that when his speech improves and expands, his behavior will improve, and he'll stop the biting & pinching behavior. (his hearing was also checked, which was perfect.) we never received a report on this appointment, but it was recommended that we contact washington county's early intervention/early childhood special education to see if he qualifies for free help from them (speech therapy, etc).

we just had that appointment today (they were booked out over a month), and received a copy of the report from the meeting at ohsu in june. he falls in the 12th lowest percentile for receptive language (13 month age equivalent), and the 3rd lowest percentile for expressive language (10 month age equivalent). sigh. so he DOES qualify for free help from the county. free help is basically one home visit a month, for 45 min, where they suggest ways to play with him to build vocabulary. i've already done a lot of reading, thanks to friends who've gone through this, and we're already doing a lot of what we're supposed to be doing - labeling things he eats, plays with, sees... giving him a choice of things and waiting for him to answer, asking him questions, having him model our speech, playing in ways that requires him to speak. it doesn't seem to be doing much, so i guess we just have to wait. wait for his mouth to develop. wait for him to figure out how to control his muscles. it's a bit maddening, though, not to mention exhausting, to repeat oneself over & over again, only to get "da" or "ba." i sometimes wonder if he's really just lazy. and i wonder if these evaluations were a good idea. it's a bit of a downer to find out your kid is in the lowest 3rd percent of anything. j & i both didn't talk until we were 2 (supposedly), so perhaps z will just wake up & start talking one day. that would be fabulous, instead of envisioning a future of prying every single word out of him little by little.

i know things could be a lot worse. i learned tonight that one of my adult students' children has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and it's shown up in the eye, which could lead to permanent blindness. z has 2 arms, 2 legs, 10 fingers & 10 toes. that's a lot right there. z is a sweet kid. he can be quite delightful, especially when he attacks me with kisses. i'm just ranting a bit because i'm tired, and it's been a long day.