Peech

When I was in school learning to be a teacher, I worked with a little first grade class as a teachers' aide for a semester. One of the little first graders was named Shaun. He was enthusiastic and funny and honest-to-a-fault. We collected some hilarious quotes from the things Shaun would say. Shaun was also in speech. He substituted the "P" sound for the "S" sound, among other things, so they'd pull him out to work with him on it. Every day at 1:00, he would raise his hand and shout out, "Mistow Peck, I'm goin' to peech class!" We found it so funny that of all the words cute little Shaun couldn't pronounce, it was SPEECH. I know it's mean, but it really was funny!

"The ryn in Spyn, sties maynly on the playn."

Well, turns out we have a little peech problem of our own at our house! Diddles hasn't been progressing as she should with speaking. She probably has 30+ words, but they are all one-syllable and pronounced in her own little way. I told you about her first and only phrase.

She never asks questions like, "What's that?" She prefers to gesture or show us what she wants instead of using her words. She's operating currently on where an 18 month old should be. It's resulted in many tears and much frustration for her, and despite our best efforts to serve as her interpreter, it's becoming increasingly difficult to communicate with her with the independent TWOs upon us (heaven help us all...).

I love when the kids capture me disciplining on film.

At her last pediatrician appointment, I expressed my concern. He assessed her for Autism and hearing problems. Nothing out of the ordinary was found. She's smart as a whip and can hear a dog barking a mile away! So, we set up an appointment to go see some professionals. There is a wonderful multi-disciplinary clinic that offers all sorts of therapy from health phsychology to speech to massage therapy. It's a wonderful facility and today we met with Betsy, a kind and grandmotherly woman, who Diddles took to immediately.

She was assessed through play with little activities using toys and pictures. It was awesome. I think they were able to get a good grasp on where she is at, and what we're struggling with, and what we can do about it.


The verdict was that she is a perfect candidate for speech therapy! There's a connection between the brain and the voice that develops differently in each of us. There's a delay in Diddles, and the fact that she's so smart explains why this has been so tough for her = tantrums & meltdowns!

So, we'll be going to "peech" for the next little while. I'm really happy there are people who study this stuff, and make it their profession. I don't profess to know everything about my child and his/her needs. Just because I'm an educator doesn't mean I know everything. I'm really glad there are people out there who can help me be the best parent I can be for my child.

Three cheers for PEECH!