Okay, so I had the meeting with our SLP- her name is Brook, she's very nice, I like her. We're going to meet once a week for therapy and see how Connor is progressing in a couple weeks, using a vowel/letter sound approach. If he's not showing improvement she will change her strategy and use other tools to help him to progress. She did say apraxic kids (man I hate that label) usually just take off at 3 to 3 1/2 yrs age, and you'd never have known that they had problems. That was a nice confirmation. We devised some goals for him, that I'd like accomplished by the time he is 3. One of those is that he uses one word phrases, in our day to day, to get his needs met. Instead of grunting and pointing, signing, or playing charades (!). Also, I'd love for him to be able to say his name. It breaks my heart that he can't. So, anyway, here's where we're starting.

Jacob is SIX now!

Jacob had a great birthday! He received a Star Wars light saber, the kind you have to assemble. Every boy's dream, and apparently John's too... We had a family brunch here at the house and then he had a kid party at Incredible Pizza. All the kids had a great time :o)

I'm meeting with Connor's assigned SLP in about an hour. I'll update more after I've met with her.

Another Update...

Connor had a mandatory hearing test yesterday, that he passed with flying colors. His hearing is perfectly fine, but just something that has to be ruled out, so we can move forward. We will meet his assigned S(speech)L(language)P(pathologist) on Monday, the 29th. This 1st meeting will mostly be a meet/greet and paperwork meeting. Then, hopefully, Connor will start his sessions the following week. In working with him at home, I've noticed that he does have problems sticking his tongue out. Which I believe is why he has problems with "cuh" sounds like in "Connor" and "cat", etc.. He is (finally!) answering "yes" to questions instead of "uh-huh", it comes like more like "ess", but at least he is making the effort!

Jacob is so cute and so grown-up all at the same time. I've explained to him what is going on with Connor, he is so quick to praise Connor when he tries to say something correctly. I've never seen two brothers love eachother as much as these two! Jake will be SIX on Tuesday, the 23rd! Already! Am I old enough to have a 6-year-old...?!! Just doesn't seem right :o)

Connor's Evaluation

Connor had an evaluation today from SoonerStart. The qualifications are that he has to have a 50% delay in one are or 25% delay in two areas. A physical therapist and speech pathologist assessed him. He scored perfectly from the physical standpoint (no surprise there!). However, he did qualify for services in the speech area. His weakness is in expressive speech. His receptive speech (understanding, anwering questions) was right at average. But in expressive speech, he was at a 15 month-old level, and he is 28 months old. We will hear back from SoonerStart by Thursday next week, to see who our assigned speech pathologist is. The evaluating pathologist believes that he has apraxia of speech, or 'childhood apraxia of speech'. It is loosely defined as having a short circuit in the brain signals to the mouth to tell the muscles which way to move to form sounds. Both therapists were in love with Connor when they left, how can you not be?! And they were extremely impressed at his intelligence and attention span, and said that he was beyond his age level. After I meet with our speech pathologist, I'll have more information and will update again. :o)