“When our daughter was two, we struggled with the choice to bring in Early Intervention and start Speech therapy. Well-meaning family and friends chalk it up to a “late talker”, and tell you about a cousin who spoke full sentences out of the blue one day. You don’t want something to be “wrong” with your kid. But eventually we realized that Speech had no downside. As long as we picked someone fun and kind, it could only help. And if her speech suddenly emerged in full sentences out of the blue, we could thank them and move on.
Our daughter’s speech did not come out of the blue. She was diagnosed with Developmental Delay and Speech Apraxia, and she had to work hard. We came to Barrett after Early Intervention with the hope that Prompt, a technique Andrea is trained in, might be the silver bullet. It turns out it was not a silver bullet, but instead a part of huge toolbox of techniques that Andrea and the other staff had to help.
We slowly went from coaxing out words, to combining two words, to making sentences. It took a lot of hours at Speech, and at home with the skills they taught us. They helped us brainstorm ways to make it fun, and supported us through all the ups and downs in our journey. Now, at seven, she’s chatty, and we couldn’t be happier. We’re still working on filling in her language skills through Speech therapy – things like multi-step instructions and word retrieval. She’s always loved coming to Speech, and we know it can only help.
One of her favorite times of the days right now is when one of us tucks her in and lays down with her for a few minutes. She loves to ask all about our day, and talk about hers. She loves sharing, and she just might be trying to stay up a little late, too. We’re grateful to the amazing staff who have helped us get here”.
~Mom