Ok awhile ago I posted that my 2yo DS doesnt speek as well as he should. Well with my own judgement I got a speech evaluation. I was right he came in with a 25% speech delay and he had his first session today and I am sooo pleased. I found out that by the time he is 3yo he will be in head start classes and have a complete IEP set up for him and that if I would have waited like everyone kept telling me to under the no child left behind act at the age of 3 if a child needs help the state is required to get them the proper help he needs. I am so thankfull that I followed my gut instinct and did this. From my first phone call to his first speech session was 1 months time how amazing is that! I just had to rave I am so excited and ready to put her plan of action into work I know baby steps is how everything is gonna go but it also helps me to learn and know that with him I have to go at a different pace and direction than I would normally do with my other 2 children. I just had to praise my local area for not dilly dalying and getting this ball rolling. Sorry so long but had to let someone know how excited I am to start on a new journey with him and maybe one day he wont frustrate me as much as he normally does cause he has no control over any of this stuff. Thanks for ready Haley

Good luck with everything! My dd Lily (one of my twins) has been receiving speech therapy from our school district since she was about a year old. (Due to some medical issues, she came home with a tracheostomy at 6 months of age. We had OT coming in by 9 months of age, and added speech around her 1st b-day.) Lily will be 3 in a couple of months, and her speech is coming along really well. I hope things go well for your ds too! Congratulations, and good for you for fighting for him!!! :D

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That's great! I hope all goes well for him!

Congrats on being your own child's advocate. It is so important to follow those gut instincts and not listen all the time to what other people are telling you. Good luck with therapy.

Oh, I'm so happy this worked for you! I so wished I had had enough info at a younger age, like that, to get my son help. He's very verbal, but the behavior would have been worked differently.

I'm finding that patience is NOT a virtue when it comes to our instincts. Kudos to you, mom. These kids are STILL connected to us, which is why they feel what we do (including stress) and we feel what they do. We just know. Keep it up, and thank you for sharing your experience; it may encourage someone else on the cusp of should I or shouldn't I to see if further help is warranted. Great job!

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What exciting news! Speech therapy can make such a difference in a child's early school years.

I am so thankfull of all your ladies support and it gives me chills to know that everyone on here backs me up. My hubby is still kinda nervous about all of it since he is not here to see what i am going thru and just afraid that his son is gonna now be titled as slow or something like that and the terms IEP scare the dickens out of him I will keep you posted on how things go from now on

Men tend to be so afraid that anything that comes out of their genes (jeans) is in any way defective - a lot of us on here are dealing with that. They like to think, "Ignore it and it won't exist." That attitude is so damaging, but can help pull us back a little and get a little perspective. But if there is a concern, which we moms pick up on more quickly, it's so much better to get it checked out. Early intervention is so important, and if we're wrong? Well, better safe than sorry. We can always back off later, if necessary.

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What awesome news! Doesn't it feel good to know your child is receiving the assistance they need?

I completely understand your position and your Dh's apprehension. My DH and his entire family were opposed to me way back when I started noticing my DS's special needs. I followed my gut and kept pushing until he also started speech, OT and PT. Now today as a 4th grader, he's making strides and closing a few gaps.

Don't ever be worried about "labels". There are many, many children that have IEP's and special needs (some not even "known"). The most important issue is that each child is getting the assistance (whatever it may be) that they need to succeed.

Keep us posted on your DS's speech progress!