The Great ECI Debate
Who knew moving to a different state would pose so many doubts in my mind when it came to Gabriel's speech therapy. As a refresher...I became concerned regarding Gabriel's speech towards the end of 2010. He would say words a handful of times and then would never say them again. I thought this was odd. After all, the kid was saying things like "armadillo" or full sentences like "What is this?" And then a day later you'd never hear that again. And it was perfect. Clear as day.
In December he qualified for speech services through the local ECI program in Texas (ECI is a federally funded program, but is run by the state itself. Every state has an ECI program.). I was both happy and sad. Happy that he would be receiving some assistance, sad that I felt as though I had caused this delay in some way. It's weird to be on the other side of the fence on this. As an educator I always delivered the difficult news and had a plan on how to help it. Now I was on the receiving end...and it isn't always easy. Well, we had a speech therapist come out to our house 1 time a week for about 3 months. He started at 4-5 everyday use words at 21 months of age and his screening level was 14-15 months old for expressive language. He gained more words, but none of them were the ones the ST was trying to get him to say and basically all she did was play with him and talk. The same thing I do every day, all day.
When we moved the state of Oklahoma and we got our transfer in I was informed that they would have to reevaluate him. This made me pause and reconsider. Did he even need an eval? When we moved to OK he was at about 30 everyday use words. In the last month he was almost doubled that. After much internal debate, discussing with Brian my thoughts on his previous therapy, and weighing out my mom guilt I decided to have him reevaluated.
I don't think the therapy in TX did anything for him. Did his vocabulary improve? Yes. He knows more words. But, when NONE of them are the ones the therapist was trying to get him to say...that's a failure in therapy in my opinion. That's like going to PT to relearn how to walk, but you learn to jump everywhere instead. Do you still get somewhere? Sure. But, you're not walking which is what the therapist was trying to teach you. Mom guilt is when you don't feel your child needs something, but you figure...well, if they did need help and you didn't get him the help he needs that is a major mom fail.
...and so...the eval. it was. Today he was evaluated and he passed. No more therapy. He has closed his gap for expressive language to 22 months of age. (Now a 3 mo. gap instead of a 6 mo.) He was still in the low range for his speech, but in the range of normal. He was also ahead in a few of the areas that were tested that were more physically related or in regards to being aware of how to handle certain situations. (i.e.: that's hot don't touch it, feeding yourself with utensils, etc.)
I am happy to know that my son is on track. I never felt he had a major delay. No one can tell me why he won't say some of those words anymore, or why he can say Bubble correctly but he says "Buzz" like Duzz, or why he used to say certain words perfectly and now they sound muddled. But, the point is he's progressing and that's all I am looking for. The evaluators were apologizing that he didn't qualify, and I told them, "There's no need to apologize. I got what I was looking for and I'm proud of my son's accomplishments. He doesn't have to be 'normal' he has to be him and feel he's being understood. And that's all I ask from my son."
Good job, Gabriel! Mommy and Daddy are sooooo proud of you!
In December he qualified for speech services through the local ECI program in Texas (ECI is a federally funded program, but is run by the state itself. Every state has an ECI program.). I was both happy and sad. Happy that he would be receiving some assistance, sad that I felt as though I had caused this delay in some way. It's weird to be on the other side of the fence on this. As an educator I always delivered the difficult news and had a plan on how to help it. Now I was on the receiving end...and it isn't always easy. Well, we had a speech therapist come out to our house 1 time a week for about 3 months. He started at 4-5 everyday use words at 21 months of age and his screening level was 14-15 months old for expressive language. He gained more words, but none of them were the ones the ST was trying to get him to say and basically all she did was play with him and talk. The same thing I do every day, all day.
When we moved the state of Oklahoma and we got our transfer in I was informed that they would have to reevaluate him. This made me pause and reconsider. Did he even need an eval? When we moved to OK he was at about 30 everyday use words. In the last month he was almost doubled that. After much internal debate, discussing with Brian my thoughts on his previous therapy, and weighing out my mom guilt I decided to have him reevaluated.
I don't think the therapy in TX did anything for him. Did his vocabulary improve? Yes. He knows more words. But, when NONE of them are the ones the therapist was trying to get him to say...that's a failure in therapy in my opinion. That's like going to PT to relearn how to walk, but you learn to jump everywhere instead. Do you still get somewhere? Sure. But, you're not walking which is what the therapist was trying to teach you. Mom guilt is when you don't feel your child needs something, but you figure...well, if they did need help and you didn't get him the help he needs that is a major mom fail.
...and so...the eval. it was. Today he was evaluated and he passed. No more therapy. He has closed his gap for expressive language to 22 months of age. (Now a 3 mo. gap instead of a 6 mo.) He was still in the low range for his speech, but in the range of normal. He was also ahead in a few of the areas that were tested that were more physically related or in regards to being aware of how to handle certain situations. (i.e.: that's hot don't touch it, feeding yourself with utensils, etc.)
I am happy to know that my son is on track. I never felt he had a major delay. No one can tell me why he won't say some of those words anymore, or why he can say Bubble correctly but he says "Buzz" like Duzz, or why he used to say certain words perfectly and now they sound muddled. But, the point is he's progressing and that's all I am looking for. The evaluators were apologizing that he didn't qualify, and I told them, "There's no need to apologize. I got what I was looking for and I'm proud of my son's accomplishments. He doesn't have to be 'normal' he has to be him and feel he's being understood. And that's all I ask from my son."
Good job, Gabriel! Mommy and Daddy are sooooo proud of you!