Frustration

Nate is making some progress with his speech therapy.  According to both of his therapists he is able to make most sounds individually.  Now we need to work on getting him to put the sounds together for words.  So hard for him sometimes.  He almost has the word "up" perfected but many times it comes out only as uh or reversed... puh uh...

Some sad news (and frustrating news) we found out just today, that the SLP he is working with in the school district will be moving.  Her last day will be the end of May.  I've been able to see a couple of sessions and Nate responds so well that I'm extremely frustrated that he'll have only spent 3 months with her.  Who knows what we'll end up with next??  It worries me. 

Nate's doing well in his new class at his Montessori preschool.  Something that has been troubling me for a while, is that his teacher may not truly understand what Nate's condition encompasses.  We've shared information from the Apraxia-Kids website that included a very easy to read letter talking about what it's like to be a student with apraxia.  It's almost as if the teacher believes that because he cannot speak that he does not understand academics.  He had been working on a basic number activity and she wasn't sure he was really understanding.  The trick for Nate and his teachers, at least for now, is that they are going to have to find other ways to check for understanding that doesn't require a verbal response.  Today, he did choose to continue working on the math activity and tried to say three -- with his version of "th" which is kind of a "sh" sound. 

Next month we have an appointment with a slew of people for the "Asperger's" evaluation.  I'm apprehensive about this particular appointment as I know that is NOT what he has and am becoming more cautious about seeing different "specialists" who don't know much.  We are scheduled to see an Occupational Therapist, an SLP, a psychologist, and a social worker at this appointment.  Not quite sure why a social worker will be there, but it will be a learning experience none the less.

On a positive note, I've met a couple more families with children like Nate who are going through all of these things and it's so helpful to have other people around to talk to and who understand.  Facebook has been really helpful with creating these new connections.