Speech Therapy Frustrations

So we went to a Speech Therapy parent information night at the Children’s Hospital on Monday. Back in January, some may remember, we had Sam screened at a clinic and he was determined to likely need services and “screened into the programme.” What that was SUPPOSED to mean was that in the following three months we would be called and given an opportunity to attend a parent info night. We were told that in the three months following our attendance at the info night he would be evaluated and he could expect services in the three months following that. So:

January – screened in.

March/April – Parent-Info night

June/July – Evaluation

October/November – Services

Seemed like a LONG wait to me. However, he was talking and progressing and personally I thought the speech pathologist may have jumped the gun a little so I was willing to wait.

Ya, end of June and we’ve JUST had out info-night. We were told he will be evaluated sometime between August and November. At this point I’m thinking November is likely. He won’t get services until FEBRUARY!!!! That’s over a year from the point in which a speech pathologist suggested he should receive services. That’s ridiculous.

Not to mention that while he is progressing and talking in two to three word sentences now and repeating stuff like crazy he still talks like he has a mouth full of marbles. We are unable to understand 90% of what he says (Kamryn can understand more) and strangers can’t understand him at all. He gets EXTREMELY frustrated, poor little guy. So now we are looking at paying out of pocket and getting things checked ourselves.

I go back and forth on this. Sometimes I listen to him and am certain that I’m just expecting too much – Kamryn I think is a little gifted in the whole language side of things. She really has a good grasp of both English and French and has a wonderful vocabulary and very good enunciation. She’s not a milestone. Then though I bump into other two year olds who speak clearly and in complex sentences and I really worry.

I just don’t want to waste anyone’s time if he’s really fine but I have a nagging belief that he’s not. His godmother is a speech pathologist (unfortunately she doesn’t live in this city). Daniel is going to call her and see what advice she has to give.