Although we did our best to make sure that Austin transitioned to a therapist in North Carolina without much delay, the holidays and McDowell County's lack of resources caused a two month delay. His first official meet with Ms. Debra at Play Again Therapy, was January 7th and we fell in love with her immediately. She is very outgoing and Austin cracks up with her a lot.
She asked one simple question of me that day though. She said, "How many words is he doing now?". I had been saying 15-20 for the last couple months because, that was basically what he was repeating on a daily basis. However, while at our first appointment, he started popping out words and so I began writing them down on a back of scrap piece of paper in my purse. It wasn't the first time he would say them, it was just that he didn't say a lot of them very often, so in this setting, he had an opportunity to start going through them as Ms. Debra was prompting him. I quickly got to 20 words by the end of the session and knew there was more. I continued to write those that I could think of when I got home and after he would just belt one out. Consulted Matt and........ we got to 46 words! They were:
Pets, help, please, Matt, Jae (for Jazzy), Sha (Scout), nah (milk), sit, juice, butter, water, shoes, hair, nose, mouth, ears, hands, toes, hush, push, pop, bubble, open, yes, no, more, eat, puppy, mama, daddy, bye-bye, truck, ball, nuts, hop, ju (jump), uh-oh, oh-no, oh man, sho (shoulders), knee, sa (salt), char (kombucha), eye, and two.
We were completely thrilled! Once we entered the following week, we were easily over 50 words. And at that appointment, I just cried my eyes out listening to my son jabber on like he had never before under the guise of Ms. Debra. What a thrill to hear him use his words!
Update: As of February 11th, Austin is working on 3 word combinations. In the last two weeks we have seen him explode with his requests and comprehension of multitask direction. Perhaps, just as I have experienced a clearer head after starting the GAPS diet, he is also experiencing a lift of fog. Either way, we are just enthralled to hear what is on his mind!
No comments:
Post a Comment