Does Speech Therapy Work?

I admit, I was skeptical about speech therapy.  With my son J speaking very little and quite behind on his vocabulary as well as showing no interest in letters or words, I finally gave in to my anxieties and got him to see a speech pathologist.

Firstly, they're not cheap.  The one I see costs $70 for a half hour session.  The initial assessment cost me $180.  And of course, I didn't take all those extras on my health insurance so it's all out of my pocket... sigh.

The first time I went, I watched what they did with my son.  The speech pathologist tried to talk to my son and play with him, and on subsequent sessions, it looked like all she was doing was playing with my son with toys.  The toys themselves have purpose of course - lots of Mr Potato heads so that body parts can be learnt; a shape sorter so he can learn shapes and colours as the blocks are coloured; one of those pop up pirate games where you insert the swords into slots on the side of the barrel (though I'm not sure what this is for, maybe for learning to take turns and learn colours); and a box of toy foods obviously for learning everyday foods.

However, for whatever reason, his speech has improved.  I haven't really done much homework with my son J, because it's a little advanced for his current comprehension level, but I am trying hard to focus with colours and talk to him as much as possible.  I was doing that before though, and not with much success.

People have said they can understand him more now.  He consistently does 3 words, and he is intelligible.  He talks a lot more and he greets everyone and says goodbye properly with names.

I wonder if I had done no interventions, would he naturally develop his speech?  Many people have said to me how they know someone who didn't speak till they were 5, or how Einstein didn't speak till late... however, how long would I wait?  I waited this long, and saw many of my friends taking their children to see Speech pathology at a much earlier age because they were concerned.  But, I console myself by thinking, that if I did nothing and it was too late for early intervention I would be kicking myself.  So, it hasn't hurt my son at all to go to speech therapy - he thinks it's a new game, and quite enjoys going.

I don't know how long I need to persist with speech therapy.  Perhaps until he is fluent or speaking in sentences.  I chose a speech path that is very far from my home, near my work, because it was recommended by friends.  It sucks up a lot of time for me, and though it has done good for my son, I won't be sad when I don't have to do that long ass drive anymore!

OMG I love this Alannah Hill coat!

One of the few times I am kicking myself for not bidding higher on this item on ebay.  But I really really love the look of this coat.  It's called "I'm a Showstopper".  I don't think I've ever been in love with a coat as much as this one! /sighs dreamily.  I love Alannah Hill stuff.

A welcome addition - with a bang!

Yesterday morning I had a bit of a shock!

I was getting ready for work, hubby was in the bathroom, and his phone goes off.  I checked it, it was my brother-in-law, he'd rang twice.  I rang him back, no answer.  Weird.  Jokingly I said "Maybe they're having a baby now!"

My sister-in-law (SIL) was due last Monday but if they baby hadn't come by today, they were going into hospital to get induced.  My SIL and I had worked out what was happening with my nephew who goes to school with my daughter, and the plan was that he stay with us.

So I got into my car and my SIL calls me, hangs up.  I call her back, no reply.  I only drive another 50m down the road and hubby calls.  "They just had a baby at home, on the floor!  There's no ambulance or anything, can you go over?"

"OMG!" I said, and did an about turn, and headed to their house.  I rang work to tell them I would be a bit late, and rushed to their house.

Fortunately, everything had gone well, but it was a bit of a shock.  She had woken up with some pain, and told my brother-in-law that they were 5 minutes apart.  He didn't know you could call 000 from your mobile phone (that's our emergency dial number in Australia) and so he went downstairs to make the phone call.  My sis-in-law yelled out "The baby's coming!  The baby's coming out!"  and my brother-in-law thought "Yeah right, not that quick," but a minute later he heard a baby crying.  He told me he was a bit stunned - he wanted to go up and see the baby but he was on the phone to the ambulance!  He wished that he had helped  deliver his own son.

By the time I arrived the paramedics had arrived and they had packed her up in a stretcher.  I took my new nephew from my SIL and did a quick check and he seemed fine - good tone, good colour, breathing was a bit grunty but no sucking in of the chest, and his heart beat was good.  I hugged my SIL telling her how clever she was and quickly went to put on my shoes and ran out with the baby in my arms to give it back to her in the ambulance (I went out the side door, they took her out the back door).  I took a photo of her and the baby and of us and the baby and then I was all grins and smiles as I drove to work as I relayed the exciting story of my nephew's entry into the world to all my workmates.

My SIL told me that it was so quick - she woke up, and had the contractions and she timed it, and they were close together, she went to the toilet, her waters broke and then she felt like she needed to push and 1 or 2 contractions later, she had a baby.  All up - 7 contractions.  She couldn't believe it. And she said it was about 10-15 minutes from pain to baby.  So quick she couldn't even get in the car to get to hospital.

We visited her later that evening with all the kids, and she was so happy to see all the kids, and I asked her a bit more about it.  She said that she went to the toilet and her waters broke and then she stood up and she felt the head coming!  She tried to awkwardly catch the head while standing/squatting and she said it was so strange, she felt the hair, it didn't seem real!  There was blood all over the floor, and then he was out, and she was holding the baby.

Her screams had woken up her son who walked out sleepily to the bathroom and he saw his mum holding the baby.  He asked her why there was blood on the floor.  My SIL told him to go to the drawer and get the blanket for the baby and he did and he handed it to her.  She wrapped the baby and by that time her hubby had come back upstairs to the spectacle.

He told me that she looked like Daenarys Stormborn with her baby dragons, when he saw her kneeling there on the floor with a baby in her hands.  He wished that he had hung up on 000 so that he could have seen the birth of his own son.  I felt bad for him, I imagine that would have been so miraculous for him to see.

But I am an aunty again!  I have been so excited all day and it's always wonderful to have such a happy miracle occur in such an amazing way.