Breathing and Babbling

I had my first meeting with Mason's resource teacher Monday. I heart her I think :)

Remember the hated Carmen? When she was here for the home assessment of Mason she recommended Mason be referred to the resource teacher program run by the county. I agreed, figuring that the more people on my team of helpers the better :) I am so grateful that I agreed!!

I really like Shelly. She knows her stuff, she has great, fresh ideas, and she's flexible. All of which are important to Mason.

Today I got Mason's speech assessment from the pre-school program (The one Carmen did). Ugh Ugh Ugh. He's low or below average on Everything!! Oh wait no, she said "Mason's play skills appear to be developing normally, however his social interaction was limited." I asked awhile back about how others find their 3 year old's play. And I have to say, a lot of them still see parallel play, which is what i see from Mason. I agree that he doesn't engage other kids to play with him, but I also don't see that from the other 3 year olds I have in my care. So who knows.

He's below average on Sentence Structure. (ex. point to the spotted puppy who is in the box), he's below average on Concepts and Following Directions (Ex. point to the giraffe and then to the monkey). And he's on the low average range for Basic concepts (Ex. point to the one that is empty). I'm actually okay with most of this, as when Carmen saw Mason for his first assessment, she told me he had NO understanding of receptive language. (In my head I am saying "Ha Ha! You were wrong!")

There's a lot of "Parent reported that..." And in my head it all seems rather negative. But, I am well aware that Mason's delays are based on his speech delays. And that some of these delays are something that Al and I need to work on. Instead of doing it for him, showing him how. Instead of giving in, sticking with it. I have a hard time, because I know the routine, and I know what to do to make it go smoothly. So I have to work on getting Mason to be more independant, and understanding of what is being asked of him. Homework for Mommy I guess.

Expressively "Mason presented with impaired expressive language skills for his age". Not at all surprised, that's why we took him there in the first place :)

She reported that he 'uses jargon-like speech which was not understandable', that he "stops sounds which require continued air movement (Pish for fish, tik for six, wook for Look). She does note though, that these sound errors are considered age appropriate, and should continue to develop with maturity. So that was comforting to hear.

He's going to be monitored in a few months at pre-school to assess his social language and play skills again. They recommend that we follow up again with the ENT to check his ears and hearing again (and considering the 2 ear infections he's had in the past two week, I'm guessing tubes for sure this time.) Carmen also commented on his lack of eye contact and inconsistent response to questions and requests. Fine.

Back to Shelly (the resource teacher), and why I heart her. I told Shelly of my fears that Mason may fall somewhere on the Autism Spectrum. She looked at me SHOCKED. :D She said that she has worked with MANY autistic children, and that while she can kind of understand my concerns, that she DOES NOT think Mason has Autism. She thinks that it it purely behavioural, stemming from the fact that he gets so frustrated not being able to speak. And he has a Very strong personality. He KNOWS what he wants. He knows he wants it NOW, and he knows which of my buttons to push to get it done. Shelly says that for my peace of mind, I'm more than welcome to get Mason assessed for Autism. But I am not really unsure.

I spoke with Mason's teacher, who is also a friend of mine, and told her what Shelly had said regarding Mason and Autism, and she breathed a sigh of relief, saying that she was SO happy Shelly had said that she didn't think so, because his teachers don't see it either.

And you know, the more I think about it, the more I think, hmm...maybe they are right. His behaviour (ie, sticking to a routine, temper tantrums etc.) still lead me to wonder what it is that makes him so different than other 3 year olds. And yet, his LACK of symptoms also comfort me (he doesn't flap his hands, he DOES have the ability to learn, he will look me in the eye). So, I guess we'll just wait and see! Because it's really starting to dawn on me, that hey! This kid has some very significant speech delays, and I can't imagine how that must effect his WHOLE life.

So, that's that. He starts speech therapy at the hospital in December, and we'll go from there. (Oh, and the Great part is, Carmen will NOT be his speech therapist :))