Adventures with Alex - Speech Therapy Evaluation

Today was the day to find out if Baby AJ needed speech therapy. He's only 19-months old, but he's only saying 1 word and that 1 word is BALL. He thinks any semi round object is a ball. However, he has grown up watching his Sissy play basketball and softball. All children are different and I've tried my best to remember that, but all I could do was compare him to his sister, who was speaking in full sentences by 15 months and her is my sweet son at 19 months only saying 1 word. I guess it breaks my heart more than anything that I still haven't heard him call me Mama. He had the most wonderful Pediatricians and they recommended a speech therapy evaluation to see if they could help him, or if it would just be something that he would pick up in time. So, with an open mind it was off to speech therapy we went.

playing in the waiting room while Mommy filled out paper work

Running in the waiting room, glad we were the only ones in the waiting room

After many questions and the therapist playing with him, talking to him, and observing him, it was decided that speech therapy is exactly what AJ needs. Developmentally he is between a 2 and 3 year old, but he's way behind verbally. His brain is functioning at a much faster rate than his mouth and it would have to slow down to tell his mouth to talk. So, since he's SO smart, guess the plan of action... Sign language. I don't think I could be happier, I'm going to learn how to communicate with him and he can "talk" back. We will be going 2 days a week and I was told after practicing and practicing he will eventually learn to speak the words. He will be able to sign and when we sign we will be sure to say the words. I'm so excited and optimistic about this new communication.