I've touched on Ava's lack of speech progression awhile ago. It's very difficult to have had an early talker (Sophia) and try not to compare her to her sister. Matter of fact, it's hard not to compare everything. And with these two girls, they are as opposite as opposite can be in almost everything.
When we had Ava's very first infant follow-up post NICU, the doctor had mentioned that I keep an eye on Ava's speech development. The same was mentioned when her home nurse did the exit interview upon graduation from her MVIP program once she was about 1 year adjusted age. I wanted to give Ava more time. Rick said to give her more time. I heard so many stories of so-and-so's kid who didn't talk until 3 years old and now won't shut up. So we waited. And then I freaked out one day because not only was Ava not progressing, I felt like she was regressing. I started making phone calls to her pediatrician, her follow-up clinic, the school district that the home nurse had left me the number of. I was in a panic, feeling that all this time waiting was doing Ava a huge disservice, and now it was my mission to get her help. I filled out paperwork, and waited. And waited. I was told that due to budget cuts, the intake evaluation process was 45 days. It was going to be a very long 45 days. During our wait, I tried to work with Ava. I turned into a drill sergeant, not something I am proud of. I signed her up for a class with a speech therapist to get some initial ideas on how to work with her during this waiting period, since the tools I was using seemed like it was pushing Ava farther away. The class was an eye opener. It was also priceless. With just basic instruction of how to change the way we talked to Ava, I saw immediate progress. This gave me hope that we could do something proactive while we waited for her assessment.
Why was I freaking out? I've read some statistics on speech that scared me. A speech delay is typically the underlying cause to a bigger delay. Don't quote me here, and I am not listing a source because I'm not going to go back to my research, but I read somewhere that 70% of children with speech delay have a primary reason for delay. It could be autism, it could be muscular, it could be something with the brain. Here we were 2 years past her stay in the NICU without any major complications, but yet what if this speech delay presented a much bigger potential problem?
45 long days later, I received a call from the program that would provide us with some answers. We set up a home visit with a case worker, a speech therapist, and an occupational therapist. We talked, they played with Ava, and they gave their initial assessment that Ava exceeded all areas of cognition. A huge relief. However, she was significantly delayed with her speech. They immediately got us in touch with a speech therapist to visit with once a week, and referred Ava to an early intervention program with the school district.
Right about the 3rd week of therapy, Ava had some major developments with her speech. She has also had change in attitude with less tantrums. Although she really hasn't made any breakthroughs in the class, it's taught us a different way to deal with Ava. We've also incorporated some sign language, which to our surprise, she picked up immediately. At this point, we still aren't sure why she has a speech delay. It could still be that her brain is working on other areas of development and that it is really nothing. It could be that she has some slight muscular issues with articulation, that combined with her stubborn personality and her strive with perfection, she won't use those words until she knows that she can say them. Whatever the reason, I am a lot more calm today. I know that these tools we are working on will only help Ava in the long run, and I am confident that she will catch up with her speech and I will be that person saying that her kid just won't shut up anymore.
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