Let The Children Come To Me

After all these years of struggling with speech and language.
After all those hours of speech therapy.
After all those emails and appeal letters to insurance companies to pay for the therapy that she so badly needs.
Countless IEP meetings.
Countless emails to teachers and SLPs.
Drilling.
Practicing.
You name it, we are doing it or have done it.
My little girl is starting to put it together.
S-L-O-W-L-Y.
The words are starting to come out.
She is trying so hard and is making great strides.
We have supported her and coached her from day one.
So now, after all the heartache and battles, why would I consider telling her to be quiet?
We. Are. In. Church.
But I do NOT tell her to be quiet.
I ask her to use her "Church voice".
This translates to a "quiet voice".
Yes, I get some looks.
You know, the looks that resonate "Why don't you sit in the quiet room?" type of looks.
Well, we don't need to sit in the quiet room.
She isn't loud or talks non-stop in Church.
Most of it is Church-related: the priest, the baby sitting in front of her, or how many songs are left until we leave.
Then there is her version of the "Our Father".
She tries so hard to keep up with the congregation.
Bless her little heart.
So, NO!
So to all those people around us who think that I should tell my child to be quiet.
The answer is simple: no.
After all the therapies.
After all the drilling.
After all the practice.
After all the fighting with insurance companies.
I only have two things to say:

Matthew 19:14
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Mark 10:14-16
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
With Jesus, Matthew and Mark on my side, I have a great defense.
Let her come to me.
Let her voice come to me.

Another Fieldtrip in Her Future

Yep.
Another field trip.
This one will be in mid-December.
Whoa! That is less than a month away.
Geez, time sure is flying.
Anyway, Kaitlyn's class will be hopping a bus once again and heading to an area college campus which is performing "The Nutcracker".
And McDonald's for lunch afterwards.
Sounds like a great time!
As you may recall, she missed her first field trip to the pumpkin farm on October 21st since she was sick that week.
However, since she was feeling so much better later that morning, we were able to drive up there and meet her class for a while.
Turned out to be a gorgeous day that day.
She didn't get to ride the bus, though.
This time, she will.
But I hope her whole sensory-issue thing doesn't get in the way.
Remember the Mother's Day Weekend Girl's Getaway to see "Elmo Grows Up"?
Yep, that disaster!
I think I am going to have to do a lot of pre-field trip prep work.
Gotta talk up ballerinas and dancing and so on.
Looks like I will be breaking out the Nutcracker CD today.
Deep breath............
Praying that this one goes better than the last theater experience.

Super Duper!

No, this is not something that I just randomly say now and then.
In fact, I don't think I have ever said this.
Well, maybe in eighth grade when I was a cheerleader.
Anyway, I just wanted to pass along a great link.
For those of you who have been on the special-needs road for some time now, you probably already know about this link.
For those of you who are just starting out on the crazy road, this might be helpful to you.
It is a company called Super Duper Publications and they have the best catalog in the world for just about anything special needs.
From speech problems to autism to sensory integration issues, it is all here.
The website is a bit busy and sometimes a tad hard to navigate, but if you scroll to the bottom there is a link where you can order a catalog.
Or, I'll make it easier for you and you can order it right here!
Happy reading, and happy shopping!

OOPS! I Did It Again!

Yes, I am in the process of giving my blog a face lift.
For those of you who are new to my blog, you obviously don't know how many times this blog has "changed clothes".
For my frequent flyers, you were probably wondering if you stumbled across a different blog by mistake.
No, it's still me.
Still talking about my kids and their special needs.
Still fighting insurance companies.
So let me know what you think?
I need to change this around to a 3-column blog.
I just don't know how.
Hang in there and please, pardon my dust!

Six Amazing Words

My. Teacher's. Name. Is. Ms. Davis.
Six words.
Six.
And clear as a bell.
This is what Kaitlyn told me the other day as we were driving home from school.
Granted, her real teacher's name is Miss Meghan.
But Ms. Davis is also a teacher within the school.
Somewhere.

But ask her to say it again, and it won't happen as clear as the first time.
Nope.
That is what apraxia is all about.
So many times a child will spill out an amazingly clear and grammatically correct sentence or phrase.
But ask them to do it again, and they sputter.
This is one of the frustrating parts of apraxia.
You know that there is a little voice in there.
You know that there is the potential for that little voice to be heard.
However, those damn pathways aren't the same from one time to the next, so you go from a correct and clear sentence to one that can't be replicated.

*sigh*

So on we go with speech therapy.
On we go with more drilling and practice.
On we go to straightening those pathways and getting all of our words out, each time, every time.
It's only a matter of time.

The Pros and Cons of a Language Explosion, Submissiveness, and Conforming With the Masses

By the title of this blog entry, it is going to be a loaded post.
Yes, as I have previously mentioned, there is a language explosion going on in this house.
And while it is wonderful to see and hear this from both kids, it has its downside.
What, you ask?
What can be so bad that I have to call it a "con"?
What could I possibly have to complain about?
After all, isn't this what I have been praying and working and fighting for.
Well, it is this simple.
There are just so many new words and so many new sounds that
1.) I have a hard time keeping up, and
2.) My lack of understanding is causing them some frustration.
More so from Kaitlyn than from Andrew.
Andrew is pretty laid back, yet persistent with his new sounds.
He is smart enough to physically show me what he wants or what he is saying.
For example, the other day he kept saying "Deek".
Deek.
Deek?
For the life of me, I could not figure this out.
Then he walked to the refrigerator, opened the door, and pointed to the lemonade.
The light bulb went on: deek translates to "drink".
Got it!
Kaitlyn, on the other hand, puts multi-syllabic sounds together which proves to be a tad more challenging.
We have had a few incidents as of late which found Kaitlyn perseverating on one word over and over.
And over.
And over.
It gets to the point where she and I both get frustrated with the whole situation.
She, however, does not always bring me to what she is saying because a lot of what she is trying to tell me is occurring in school.
Can't just run over there, can we?
I have learned to write these new "words" down phonetically, keep them in my purse, allowing me to whip out this list when we see her teacher so I could pick her brain about what I am hearing.
Whew.
That was a long sentence.
I am sure it is loaded with grammatical errors and could also be a run-on sentence.
That's OK.
I was just trying to make a point.
Did I?
So that's what the "con" is all about in the title of this post.

Submissiveness.
I am not submissive by any means.
I conform to laws which I determine to be necessary and appropriate: rules of the road, stopping at red lights, laws that govern nurses, my job description and policies at work.
I think you get the picture.
I let very few people tell me what to do.
And heaven help those who think they can try to tell me what to do and get away with it.
But, I was submissive on Tuesday.
I gave in.
I had both kids vaccinated with the H1N1 vaccine.
I know, I know, I said in a previous post that I wasn't going to do it.
I wasn't going to give in.
I wasn't going to buy into the media frenzy and media pandemic that was simmering.
But after much prayer and soul-searching, I gave in and got them vaccinated.
Had I let my fears govern my thought process and chose not to vaccinate, and if something dreadful or tragic happened, I would have no one but myself to blame.
So I did it.

Conforming.
Nope.
Don't do that either.
Now this topic goes back to the H1N1 vaccine, too.
I didn't conform like millions of others did.
I didn't wait in lines that wrapped around buildings.
I didn't stand outside in rainy, windy elements.
I didn't spray live viruses up my children's noses.
If I was going to conform with the masses, I would do it my own way.
On my own terms.
Every week, I persistently called our pediatrician's office, inquiring about their stock of vaccine.
Every week was the same answer: they didn't have the vaccine and did not know when it was to be available.
Then, on Monday evening the call came in.
They had the vaccine.
Fed Ex or UPS was kind to them and dropped off an early Christmas gift.
But if I was to do this, it would be on my terms and my terms only.
The kids were NOT to get the nasal spray form.
The kids were NOT to get the vaccine from a multi-dose vial.
The kids were ONLY to get the preservative-free, pre-drawn form.
So after arguing with the office chick who calls herself a nurse when in fact she is not (ahem, a med tech) I got my way.
Both kids did NOT receive the nasal form.
Both kids did NOT receive an injection from a multi-dose vial.
Both kids DID receive the preservative-free, pre-drawn syringe of monovalent influenza vaccine.
And I did NOT premedicate with Tylenol as the CDC advised parents not to do so.
OK, so I conformed with this one thing.
Call it a moment of weakness.
But they did receive a dose of Tylenol about three hours after the vaccine.
And another dose after their breakfast this morning.
That's it.
This, by far, has to be the longest post ever.
But I had a lot to get off my chest and talk about today.
I promise...tomorrow's post will be short, sweet, and to the point.
Thanks for hanging in there!

Top 10 Tuesdays!

OK, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and pick a day that I would dedicate every week to a specific post topic.
After wracking my brain for all of about, oh, let's see....5 minutes, I came up with this!
VOILA!
Creative, huh?
So every Tuesday, from now on, I will label my post as my "Top 10 Tuesday!"
Feel free to join me.
Just copy/paste the Top 10 picture as your picture on Tuesdays and type ONLY 10 things from the previous week that you would like to review or relive!
They can be anything you'd like: ten great moments from the last week, strange happenings, revelations, you name it!
It's your list, so don with it what you want.
So here we go.....
Drum roll please................
(insert drum roll sound here)

Pattie's Top 10 Tuesday:

#10. Having a great Parent-Teacher Conference on Kaitlyn last week.

#9. Hearing Andrew make the /m/ sound successfully.

#8. Listening to Kaitlyn string four, five, and six words into a sentence.

#7. Receiving a confirmation letter in the mail that Aetna will continue to be our
insurance carrier and that they didn't dump me yet for being a pain in their
rears (um, which I have no intention of stopping people!)

#6. Enjoying a late Indian-Summer with the kids this last weekend!

#5. Finishing just about everything on that darned to-do-list of mine.

#4. Being able to get away last Friday evening for a night of food, drinks, fun,
conversation, and scrapbooking with my next-door neighbor buddy.

#3. Having a stranger in a store tell me to go home and take a nap when she asked
me a question and I stumbled over my words as I held an extra large cup of
Dunkin Donuts coffee and apologized for being so sleep deprived. Weird.

#2. Making Andrew laugh so hard that he got the hiccups.

#1. Having both my kids simultaneously scream "HI!" and run to me, knocking me
over with hugs like the Chicago Bears front line.