New Year

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I wanted to talk about a reading book that has helped us very much. As Caleb was learning to read he was learning to talk. Caleb had problems with sh, ch, etc. Certain blends were impossible for Caleb. Sh and Ch were painful for him to learn. Even now if he gets tired it comes out wrong. I bought hooked on phonics K and first grade. It comes with a cd that you play along with a workbook. It goes over these sounds. The cd will say sh and the sound several times. Then It has a few pages of words that go with the sound. For example "Sh" has a few pages with words like ship. dish, wish, etc.... We went over sh for several months. I don't think I could have made it without the Hooked on phonics cd. We would listen to it in the car. Wonderful product. It helps with reading. But for me it helped us with speech. This is a great product to use at home with your kids as well as homework from your speech therapist.

An epedemic

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There seems to be an epedemic of speech delay all across America. I know of two other boys at church that also have speech delay. Maybe I am paying more attention. But it seems like there are more and more children with speech delays. When Caleb was born it never occured to me that he would have such a hard time learning how to talk. It is so sad that all the professionals know how to do is place a label on our children. I have put Caleb on a natural supplement called Seanol. It is good for many things. It seems to help him with concentration and memory. We have seen a differnce with his school work. Seanol is something that everyone should research and see if its something that might help you.

speech therapy products I recommend

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Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! This has been one of those years. We lost my Grandpa last Febuary. We had our 11 month old cocker spaniel put to sleep. We have had a lot of family stress. But the amazing thing is that thru all this God has been with us. I love Christmas. Not because of presents. I love Christmas because of the gift God gave us many years ago. I am so thankful that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I am glad that I am a sinner saved by grace.

Last night

Last night we went to cub scouts. Caleb got to participate in a flag raising ceremony. He was very excited. All the boys did a good job. Caleb is working on citizenship things. It is so nice to see Caleb doing so well. There were times when I didn't know if he would ever learn to talk. Last night all the boys were asked to draw a picture of ways you can help other people and then tell different ways that you could help other people. Caleb was able to do this. It brought a tear to my eye. Other people there had no idea that this would have been impossible just a few years back. I would like to encourage everyone with boys to put them in cub scouts and boy scouts. It is a wonderful program that gives good opportunities to kids.

My son Caleb

Here is a video we posted on u tube. Where you can see how my son Caleb talked at 4 years old and at 9 years old. It shows you how far we have come.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_whZEx8NfT8

Will you be able to get speech therapy after Obamacare?

When my son was two years old we went to see the pediatrician. I was told not to worry and we would recheck in a few months. This went on until my son was three and then we referred to a speech therapist. It is hard today to get insurance companies to pay for speech therapy. Most insurance companies do not see the critical need to get these children verbal. I worry about what will happen if the government is able to take over our health care. There needs to be health reform but the government is not the ones to do it. The government can't even take care of their post office, public schools, or VA......... This government is spending money like their is no tomorrow. I just worry that our children will be the ones to suffer. We need to be their voice. We need to stand up and demand that speech therapy is CRITICAL to those who need it. We don't want to wait 6 months. We don't want to wait a year. We want our kids to get the medical attention they need TODAY!!!!!!!! If the government takes over our health care system. We will be taxed out the whazoos! Not to mention we will have to wait a long time to get the critical care we need today!

I wish that more health insurances would recognize the imprtance of speech therapy. Our health insurance would only pay for so many speech therapy sessions a year. And most speech therapy sessions are 100$ a session. These sessions are usually 30 min to 45 mins. And they are once to twice a week. We couldn't afford that. The only other option is to give your child over to the public school system and allow them to place a "label" on your child and throw them in special ed classes. Public schools teachers are not taught how to deal with kids that need special attention. Now don't get me wrong. I believe that special ed classes are needed in public schools. There are children with Down's Syndrome and other things that need these special ed classes. But what about children that have average IQs? Why should my son be thrown in the special ed class just because he didn't speak as well as the other kids. Even though he places at his grade level on testing. Even though my son does his school work and learns very quickly. Think about the damage it does to the young mind. To tell them they aren't smart enough. It crushes their dreams and makes them feel limited. I want my son to know that he is very smart. And that he can do anything he wants to do.

Our speech delay journey

We have been blessed with two wonderful boys. They are full of energy and bring so much joy into our life. Our youngest son Caleb was diagnosed with a severe speech delay when he was three years old. When he was born he seemed normal. When he turned turned two we were very concerned with his lack of speech. After all his older brother could talk very good at two years old. Caleb was different. When he turned three we talked to our pediatrician. We were sent to a speech therapist. His first speech therapist was a fruit cake. She offered us no hope and no help. We were told our son was mentally retarded and would never talk. I would cry every time we went to see the speech therapist. Caleb would cry as well. He did not want to go either. We disagreed with this evaluation. When Caleb went to his first speech evaluation he had not had a nap and was very grumpy. He had no interest in wanting to go through an evaluation process. We felt it was wrong to "label" a child after a 30 min test. Not every child thinks inside the box. Sometimes it is a gift to think outside the box. We fired that speech therapist. It took me 6 months before I would have the courage to try another speech therapist. During that time our son would have 4 seizures. We were very afraid. We prayed and gave Caleb over to God. God has been with us each step of the way. The second speech therapist was a gift from God. It took her three sessions to give Caleb an evaluation. It was her opinion that Caleb was a very bright child with a severe speech delay. She felt that with a lot of hard work Caleb would overcome his speech delay. Caleb is now 9 years old and can talk. He is a very good student in school and a blessing from God. He still has some trouble sounds that we work on. However he speaks well enough that people don't look at me to tell them what he has said. We have come farther than I ever imagined was possible. I would like to encourage everyone that has a child with a speech delay. Please don't give up. There is always hope.