MY OWN KIDS

Okay, so you all know that my own kids have special needs - both are developmentally delayed. I figured it's about time for an update ; )

Since November, Cayden's been attending the local public special education program. He has made such tremendous progress! It's amazing to hear him these days. Although he still babbles nonsense, his expressive vocabulary has come leaps and bounds. He'll tell us that we're being silly or what he wants to eat. It's somewhat mind-blowing to think that a year ago he was throwing himself on the ground, crying, screaming, breaking toys in frustration. Those fits would last for an hour sometimes - it was out of control. Now when he gets upset, he can recognize it. He'll even say, "Go Time Out. I angry. Go time out." It catches us off-guard sometimes lol He's such a fun little guy and we're so happy that we're getting to FINALLY understand what he's been saying the past few years.

As for Kaylee, she still remains without services. The early intervention (EI) services are sucking at life mostly due to the state of Illinois. In case you didn't know, the state of Illinois cut the budget on EI services. This means that they haven't been paying the therapists. So since the therapists aren't getting paid, they aren't coming out. Since they aren't coming out, Kaylee remains without services. Interestingly, EI COULD refer us to a clinic setting HOWEVER because there is a tremendous emphasis on helping children in the home environment, they won't do it. So, again, Kaylee goes without services.

However, me being me, I decided to say "eff that" and called up Sertoma. Sertoma is an organization that works solely with speech and hearing. Although this will come out of our pocket, our children are our priority. They will be providing Cayden with summer services through their Bridge program in order to keep him on track. Don't get me wrong, he's come a LONG way, but he's still REALLY far behind. Since he's shown such tremendous progress over the past few months at school we don't want to lose what he's attained and we want to bank on the forward momentum. As for Kaylee, they can and will do a hearing test (FINALLY) as well as provide speech services for her. If the outcome for her hearing is normal, we plan on going through the diagnosing process either through RUSH or Children's Memorial since they have Pediatric Neuropsychologists.

We also plan on having the kids participate in Gymnastics over the summer. This is not only to get some of their spastic energy out but to help with their coordination, balance, and motor skills. Adam wants Cayden to do hockey (there's a surprise), but I think we will stick with gymnastics this year and branch out next year when he turns 5. ZOMG HE'S GOING TO BE 5 NEXT YEAR. Okay, done spazzing. ; )

So things are moving in a forward fashion for the kids and I couldn't be happier. I hate that we have to go through Sertoma and we have to pay out of pocket BUT I want to hear Kaylee talk. I want to know what the Doods has to say about things. I have a feeling it'll be somethin' sassy. ; )