Mom, Ashley, shares how Early Intervention and Parents as Teachers has made an impact for Logan.
Logan, our second born has been such a blessing in our life. He is always smiling, laughing and always wants to see others doing the same. Big brother, Tucker, is six years older than him and diagnosed with non-verbal autism which means that we are all too familiar with speech delays. I can still remember our worry when Logan was one year old and not developing his speech like he should.
When we realized Logan’s speech was delayed, we reached out to Early-Intervention (a service that was a huge blessing to us with our oldest son Tucker) and began speech therapy. Logan was slow to progress his speech even with services in place. We had brought our concerns to Logan’s pediatrician who wanted a hearing test completed “just to be safe” and we realized Logan’s speech delay was caused by mild hearing loss. Long story short, Logan had tubes placed in his ears which resolved his hearing loss.
Shortly after, the pandemic hit and halted his in-person speech therapy. This is where we had to get creative. What could we do to help our Logan with his speech? Our rambunctious, fun loving son did not do well with tele-speech therapy. Playing! That is how children learn. That is where Parents as Teachers through the Guidance Center has been such a huge blessing in our lives (Tele-visits). Not only did they (and continue to) support me as a parent to not only Logan but our other two children, they were helping us progress Logan’s speech through FUN activities that Logan continues to love. Now Logan is in pre-school and receiving speech therapy but still always looks forward to his weekly session with Parents as Teachers.
We are so thankful for services such as Early Intervention and Parents as Teachers. Logan has gone from only having around five words to forming sentences! I cannot stress how important it is to talk to your child’s pediatrician about any concerns you have with your child’s development. He/she will point you in the right direction and make sure your child gets the help that they need. Not only do these services really make a difference, but they are also fun! Even if your child doesn’t have a developmental delay, services like Parents as Teachers will give you fun activities to help support your child’s development.