Oh these boys and their speech!

What to do with these boys. Andrew has had some issues with his speech since preschool. He was boarder line at age 4 and they did not feel he needed therapy at that time. His teachers said they often couldn't understand him so they brought a team in to evaluate him. They said he could just outgrow his speech issues because the sounds he had issues with were normal for many at his age. They informed his school and asked for an eval to be done at age 6.

Fast forward and here we are. Andrew is 6 and in the 1st grade. he had an eval in Kindergarten but they wanted to have one again at age 6. This year he failed his evaluation. I don't seem to notice his speech issues. We understand him and he self teaches if he pronounces words wrong. He even taught himself to stop saying stoon but rather spoon. He practiced in his bed one night and ran upstairs the next morning to tell me he can now say spoon correctly! This was months ago and I feel his speech has improved so much from his own doing. I think as kids we all had issues with certain words. We grow up thinking that is the way they are pronounced but in fact they are not.

So Monday I head to his school in the afternoon to attend my first meeting to approve therapy for any other children besides Brendan. It is a bit odd. I never thought any of them would need services. I have noticed Lily speaks just like her brother so I wonder if she will need it to. I guess time will tell. We plan on sending her to preschool next year. She is beyond shy and if we dare mention school she tells us that she is not going to school and will cry.

I am guessing more meetings are in my future. At least I am used to this whole process. I am glad he will get the help that he needs. He is very smart and blew me away the other night with his homework. They send home packets for us to complete and he knew absolutely everything. He knows all of his letters and the sounds that they make. It seems too easy for him. So although he has speech issues he still understands all of the sounds which is awesome. In Kindergarten he was struggling with writing because the sounds that he pronounced were wrong and he couldn't figure out how to write words out. If getting him help in speech creates less stress for him and writing to be easier then I am all for it. I think he has progressed since last year and he would probably progress on his own but I don't want him to feel inadequate or frustrated with school. It is very important for him to do well and enjoy learning.

He is an amazing kid with a heart of gold. He is sensitive and loving and a great brother. I want the best for him.