Thanks to the worry of one Public Health Nurse, Mark and I have started an adventure called Speech Therapy. While initially I was really annoyed with all the phone calls, assessments and forms I had to fill out, it has been beneficial.
It all started at Ellie's 18-month shots back in March - she didn't really have any identifiable words at that time which according to the "normal" standard (what is that anyway?) was behind. So then the process began which was followed by completing a questionaire to get Ellie on the waiting list. I received a phone call almsot immediately and we had a telephone assessment - the verdict: Ellie had gross motor delay. The reason: because she wasn't walking upright, up and down the stairs.
At this point, I was quite furious - the woman on the phone couldn't understand that my daughter is so incredibly short that her legs are the same length as the rise on a stair! Only after the fact did I think that I should have asked her to climb onto a table in the upright position without holding onto something. Thanks to the wisdom and insight of a dear friend, we started going through the processes that were recommended to us, and I am thankful we have.
We have learned how to play differently with Ellie that makes sense to her (not us). I'm learning how dumb we can be as parents, something I am sure I will re-learn in the teen years! I have also learned that there is a difference between speech and language - Ellie speaks, anyone who has had the priviledge of 5 minutes in her presence knows how well she communicates. Her issue is that she just doesn't speak a language - a valuable difference to know! Mark and I went to Speech School For Parents 101 that the Health Region put on and we've taken a few things to try and implement - it's been very neat to see her words sharpen over the last week as we've tried these new tricks.
Maybe we'll figure out this parenting thing yet!!
