Well, after a year of hoping and praying...she is finally getting speech therapy. She goes four days a week and I am hopeful progress will be made quickly. After she was evaluated the speech therapist told me in the 25 years she has done this she has never seen a child with scores like hers (she is around the 15 month old level in expressive and the 4.5 year old level in receptive). I know Annslee is frustrated and so are we. I feel so badly when I watch her try to interact with other children and adults and they have no idea what she is trying to tell them. Adults are kind enough to try and go along but children don't know to do that and so they just walk off. I realize it doesn't hurt her feelings yet but it hurts me for her. She is such a social butterfly but her lack of expressive language is beginning to be a huge barrier for her and I am glad we are on the road to helping her. I know I need to stop being her interpreter but it is so difficult when I know what she is trying to say or what she is signing.
Did I mention I am crazy about this girl?!
Dannye, I told you she loves the Eeyore you sent! In the collage below the story goes something like this.... "Poor Eeyore, he is sad b/c his tail came off ~ here is a hammer I will fix it ~yep, it is fixed ~ Eeyore, smooch smooch"
I have been meaning to post about the
Wheeler Family for a while and they really need all the prayers they can get. I do not know them personally but I cannot imagine the pain they are in not knowing what is happening with their daughter in Guatemala. Please visit their blog and give them some support.
36 comments:
That's great! Yay Annslee!
It's so strange to read that she's not able to communicate. I see her pictures and think she must be the most social friendly girl in the universe! I'm sure it won't be long...
Four days a week? That's amazing, she's going to be talking up a storm in no time! Maya's got speech once a week and she LOVES it - begs to go back all week long.
Anslee is such a pretty little girl. Surprise me that she needs to go for speech theraphy, she looks like a chatterbox in the pic. Am sure she will talk non stop in no time!
I am so happy she is finally getting what she needs. You know she is a totally bight little girl with receptive skills in that level. Expressive is always the hard part and now that she is getting the 4 day a week program she will soar. I always see the best improvement when a kid gets intensive treatment early on. She will do so well and her frustration will soon decrease.
I am really happy for you and her and love the pics-- she is so cute!!
Christy :)
I remember so well Lili's frustration at not being able to communicate. (she was non-verbal) I'm so glad that Anslee is getting the help she needs. 2 of mine had speech therapy and it is amazing how quickly they progress!
She must be making up for her lack of verbal expression by FACIAL expressions!! :)
I pray she excels quickly. I pray the therapists quickly figure out what will help her to overcome her delay. I love what a happy full of life little girl she is. Such an angel.
You are very lucky that she will be receiving 4 days--that is incredible! We are so happy she is starting:)
I have been praying for little Miss Annslee and I know she must be terribly frustrated. We have the same thing going on with Emma Jane, who mixes her Korean (of which I know none!) and English and baby babble all day long! But for Annslee she knows what she wants to say but can't, praying this therapy is just what your baby needs!
Laura! We all LOVE Annslee!
my son has been in speech therapy for 5 years now.
I know the frustrations, but there is such pride there as well.
He goes for 4 days a week as well - the maximum the school can provide.
You will see improvement - slowly but surely.
Yeah! I am so glad you are finally going to get what she needs...I pray she'll progress quickly!
My middle child had to go through alot of speech. He didn't say anything until he was 2. Then, he said nothing we understood. It is very frustrating when the communication is lacking. I was his interpreter for a long time. He caught on, though, and so will Annslee. You'll be surprised how fast she'll catch on.
I'm so glad she's going to be getting help! We can all see from her pictures what a social girl she must be, I'm sure you won't be able to get her to stop talking soon!
Aw, that is such a great thing for her! It must be SO hard not to be able to hang out and communicate with her peers. You are such a good mama to have advocated for this for so long without giving up! Yay for progress! She'll be talking your ear off before you know it!
I'm so glad to hear that she will be getting some help. Poor little thing. I'm sure you will see some great improvements soon.
I adore her too. She's so darling!
so glad you are getting that help. I have two special needs nephews who receive services and if my daughter needs an ounce of help i will bbe a dragon until she gets it!!!!!!!!
Four days a week is awesome & I'm sure you'll see major improvement really quickly!! Praying for that!!
I'm so glad to hear that she's getting therapy, and I'm looking forward to hearing about her progress.
Hannah has the same Eeyore. Actually, we took it to China when we adopted her--needless to say, it's very special!!
You should see a huge change in Annslee after speech therapy, Lauren has changed so much after getting the help she needed. I am so happy Annslee is getting the help she needs.
Good for Annslee! I can see why your crazy about her...she's so sweet. I love her crocs!
AHHHHH!!!!! THE POWER OF PRAYER!
I join your fellow readers in wishing and praying for speedy progress. Being able to communicate is essential....God speed..
Great news on her speech therapy services. Hopefully she will love the new teacher and Annslee will be making big strides soon. I'm sure she will be sooo happy when she can speak and be understood by all!!!
Very glad to hear Annslee will finally be getting the help she deserves. I think it's amazing that her receptive language is so advanced. How wonderful! (Linlee is behind in both expressive and receptive language.) Can't wait to hear about the progress Annslee is going to make!
(We've got the same tricycle as well as the same shirt! LOL!)
That is awesome that she is going to get the therapy that she needs!! I am so happy for you guys. I hope you see progress quickly!
Yay for ST. My daughter was assessed recently and she was marked at 18 months rather than her nearly three year old self. She just started ST a couple of weeks ago and goes three times a week. I, like you, look forward to having our daughters be able to communicate with other kids and not have to worry as much about them. You have my email somewhere so email me if you want to continue "talking". Take care.
4 days a week. Thats great she's getting help & before you know it she'll be correcting our speech:) LOL!
My third son needed speech therapy. He could only speak about 5-7 words at age 3. No one could understand him, and it was so frustrating for him.. the speech intervention was fabulous! It took a few years for him, but I lOVED that program. The people were phenomenal. I hope your experience goes as well :)!
Annslee is adorable!
Fantastic! With therapy 4 days a week she should catch up with Josie in no time... and then you'll wonder how you'll keep her quiet! LOL!
By the way... I didn't talk until I was 4! And that was the days before therapy... and well, I turned out OK (I think - I guess there are people out there who will disagree with that statement).
On the serious side... it has to be the hardest thing - watching her struggle to communicate with other kids.
How could you not be crazy about such an adorable girl?!? It is fantastic that she is getting 4 days of speech a week. You will see progress in no time. I have been following your blog for a couple months- it looks like what she lacks in speech, she makes up for in all of her wonderful facial expressions! I love them!
You know it's weird because I don't think of Annslee having a speech delay. When we are together I don't even notice it since Amelia has never been a talker in public. I know you want the best for her, but she gets her point across very well and I doubt many people are even realizing she isn't talking that much. I am not just saying that either, I REALLY never even think about it when we are together. Amelia didn't talk hardly at all until about 6 months ago and her speech has just exploded lately. I am hoping Annslee's speech gets jump started with her therapy!
Tracy
She is just so darn cute! I am glad that she is getting the help that she needs to overcome her speech delay!
That's so great! I know exactly what you mean about feeling helpless towards your child's speech. Francsca just starting talking this past July and used signing before that. There are still days I feel that I have to translate what she is saying...but a lot of that has to do with her being "shy". Please let us know how Annslee is making out.
Finally! I am so glad she is going to get the help she deserves! She'll be talking before you know it. Hugs to all!
BTW -- My girls have the same shirt. I love CP clothes!
Hooray for Annslee! I'm sure someday when she is talking your leg off you'll look back and think, "This girl had a hard time talking???" Hugs, Graycen's mama
yeah for the speech coming through ... i will keep praying ...it is always hard to watch our little ones struggle ... i am sure Maggie will need speech when she comes home ! can't imagine how much chinese chattering she will be doing at me in China ...lol
I am so HAPPY that she is finally getting what she needs. You are a good Mom for being so presistent! YEAH! My oldest went 3-4 times a week at that age and caught up very quickly.
Kim
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