PipSqueak Speech Therapy

Check out the article at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/491034 to read about supertasters and picky eaters. I didn’t realize 50% of children ages 18-23 months were considered picky eaters. That percentage seems high to me. I guess I am lucky in that I have one pipsqueak that is NOT a picky eater and one pipsqueak that IS a picky eater….hey that’s 50/50 odds, humph maybe these specialists do know a thing or two. It was never so apparent as last night at dinner when one of my children had licked the plate clean (rib roast, green beans, bread ) and gotten seconds and thirds on the beans and the other child only ate the bread.  All I could think was “how nutritious, bread for dinner” but he continues to grow like a weed and is on track on the growth and weight charts. My picky eater is also the child with the hearing issues and the childhood apraxia of speech issues. Connection???? Hmmmmm maybe so. We are scheduled for getting our second set of tubes AND having our adnoids out next week. Maybe that will help the appetite if he can smell better. One can only hope! Now only 14 more attempts to serve green beans before he’ll eat them!

As I sit here looking at my calendar and flip open to June 1…yes it is June already…. I realize I have yet another doctor’s appointment for my 3 yr old son tomorrow morning for further evaluation for another possible set of ear tubes. This would be the second set for him. We have been on a nasal steroid and allergy meds for the last 6 weeks to try to get rid of the fluid on the ears. On a side note: My 1 year old son currently is on antibiotics for …dunh dunh dunh…that’s right, you guessed it, its an ear infection, surprise surprise, right in the middle of summer no doubt. But I digress….

The following question briefly enters my mind….”Will these appointments ever end?”

Then I start to think, If I am feeling this way and I am a mom of a speech delayed child AND a speech therapist with some insight into how it all works, then I bet most parents feel the same sense of never ending appointments in regards to their child’s speech therapy as well…if not more.

This world of speech or language problems may be new and foreign to them. I at least understand the anatomy, the function, the research the treatment protocols and most importantly the successful outcomes…and I still feel this way sometimes.

I have to remind myself to be patient, to be supportive and most importantly to be my child’s ADVOCATE no matter what I am feeling…I must fight for him until he knows how to fight for himself. I don’t want to “wait and see if he grows out of it” I want to be on the offensive and say let’s get this identified and address it the best that we can, full throttle, and THEN I will know I have done everything within my power to protect and heal and help my child grow and succeed.

I feel like I just gave myself a little pep rally….humph well,  I guess what it all boils down to is that if I needed to drag him to the doctor every day for the next five years to ensure that he was getting the help he needs to be healthy then that’s what I would do… it may get old, I may get tired of it but I WILL NOT GIVE UP making sure he gets the medical evaluations, the therapy or the medications that he needs because I’m the mom and that’s what parents do!-jsa

To encourage requesting by your child, it is helpful if you place their favorite toys up high with picture and word labels. This will encourage them to come and get you to request for certain items. Communication temptations by simply manipulating their environment! Good Luck!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010
6:00pm - 7:30pm
Williamson County Public Library
1314 Columbia Avenue
Franklin, TN

PipSqueak Speech Therapy will host a parent education workshop entitled Speech and Language Development: How Parents Can Help on Tuesday, May 25 at 6:00 p.m. Tara Roof is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist who will discuss typical speech and language development and provide tips on how to encourage the development of speech and language skills.