Dealing with a child that has Speech and Developemtal issues

Soon after I gave birth to my 1st child, Austin, I thought my life couldn’t be more enjoyable. When I looked at my baby, he was perfect, and who know that there was anything wrong with him, just by looking at him. I thought that he was so precious, and that God had given me the most miraculous gift of all. He was perfect in every way, shape and form and that he didn’t have any problems to worry about. I hoped and prayed that he would grow up just like everyone else, and be a happy and healthy little boy.

Just when I think I have his life figured out, God decides to throw us an obstacle that we have to overcome. Austin was having speech problems, vision problems, and possibly was developmentally delayed along with a slight case of what could possibly be Autism.

To hear those words, just put me into shock and was severely traumatic for me. I didn’t know how to handle it. It was so hard for me to cope with the thought of my son, Austin, having any health problems. I kept pondering the thought of what did I do during my pregnancy to cause him to have this? Was it something I did, was it something my husband did? There were so many thoughts and discussions going on in my mind at the time. I didn’t know where to start or what to do for him, to help him overcome these problems.

I said to myself that I needed to do something about this fast before it gets worse. After reading and hearing so many things that are out there to help my child, I thought where can I start, and how can I get it moving the fastest.

First we got him enrolled with our school district. We are able to have a speech therapist, and a teacher come to our house once a week to work one on one with Austin. We are so blessed to have this service provided to us. It’s been nothing be extremely helpful for me to learn how to handle my child with disabilities, and for him to learn things in different way, and for him to be able to communicate to use through different ways and forms besides just speaking.

Austin’s learned sign language to help him cope with his frustrations, along with slowly progressing his speech. He’s such a determined little boy, who when he puts his mind and focuses on a task, he can complete it with ease. I am so proud of my son. He’s come such a long way over the past 2 years that I thought that we would never get as far as we had from when we started in day 1.

Were also enrolled in the school districts ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) classes. Brent and I take Austin to school once a week. Were able to interact with other parents, while the kids get to interact and play with each other for about an 1 ½ hrs a week. The programs we have attended have been great, and we love the teachers who are also in attendance at these meetings.

Finally, I am so great full for having such wonderful moral support from my Mom and my Brother. Without them in my world right now, I don’t think I would be where I am today. My Mom has been the rock that has held me through this whole process. She continues to show her support for us by attending our weekly classes, taking him to school and interacting with other kids, along with her involvement with Austin on a daily basis has been a wonderful experience for me to watch, and to see the two of them grow closer day by day, and hour by hour. So Mom and Jeff, I thank you for all you have done for us.

My advice for anyone out there who has a child with a health problem/disability/or anything else that maybe of hindrance in their life, make sure you love them to the fullest, and do everything in your power to provide them with the opportunities to grow, and have every chance to live life they way you would want them to live it.