Speech

Eli had his speech evaluation at Heartspring last week. I was really excited to get it DONE and figure out what we need to do! He was perfectly cooperative and sat and said all the words and sounds they wanted him to say. I am still amazed how willing he is to learn (he is rocking swimming lessons and Sunday school now) and am encouraged that he will do great in preschool. He definitely qualifies for speech therapy, but isn't even close to being severe. The speech therapist said she doesn't think it will take him very much time at all to correct the bad habits he's started with his sounds. She said he is great at imitating, so it should go quickly. In her opinion, he only needs one 20 minutes session a week, and that preschool will probably be the best thing for him. I am waiting for them to call me and schedule some sessions throughout the summer. In the Fall, I'll see about getting him in the public school system's free speech therapy. I am very encouraged after this evaluation and am looking forward to getting started (especially after seeing that he'll sit and do what they say). He is growing and changing so much! I am amazed at how his speech has improved just since he turned three, and my talkative niece being here has improved his speech by a TON! He talks in very long sentences now and is getting clearer by the day. When we work on phonics, he is getting better on the sounds he has trouble with (k, s, sh, ch, z). At night, he tells us long stories and his improved talking has pretty much stopped his frustration, tantrums, screaming, etc. I am absolutely LOVING this age! The 3's have rocked so far! The two's were definitely TERRIBLE in so many ways and most of it stemmed from his frustration in not being able to communicate effectively as well as all of his health issues. Most likely, he was feeling sick a lot of the time from gluten issues and we had no idea. I felt so bad for him. I just feel so excited to watch him grow into a little boy who is so active, who loves learning, adventurous, sweet, affectionate, and thoughtful. I am proud of him and how far he's come!