Child Find (Speech)

A request was recently submitted to me through email to update on J.R.s speech impediment. I have added a tab at the top of my blog titled," Speech Therapy and ADHD". In that tab I will post all the links related to this topic in my blog so they are easily access able.

Right now I am going to take a break in blogging about our R&R, and blog about the beginning of our Speech therapy Journey.

Background: In 2008 is when we decided to find intervention for J.R. and what to seem as a speech delay. My husband grew up with problems in speech/comprehension and reading. Sr. grew out of this by the time he was nine years old, had confidence J.R. would do the same. I, however, could not leave the situation up to genetics and time, so I contacted our local EDIS office, but since J.R. was already three he could not participate in their program and would instead have to go through, Child Find, which is a DOD program used to evaluate children for learning disabilities.

In February we went for our evaluation, at one of our local elementary schools. They asked J.R. lots of questions, they had him play ball, and a few other motor skills type tests. We waited 5 months before we got a letter in the mail with his results. His motor skills were at or above normal, but his speech and comprehension were below average for his age level. This came as no surprise, we knew he was struggling in this area.

He was accepted into the program. We started making arrangements for J.R. to attend one-on-one instruction with Mrs. R, twice a week for thirty minute sessions. This plan was called his IEP and would follow him into Kindergarten. August 2008 is when he started, and he loved going to see  Mrs. R. His speech did not  improve over night but it got better. When Junior started out with Mrs. R, he did not have a large audible vocabulary, and called every woman he came into contact with, "Mom", but over the year he learned. He learned to pronounce and remember every ones names, he learned to communicate better his wants and needs, and Mrs. R taught me of ways I can help him at home over the summer since Child Find only runs through the year.

-The speech pathologist finding was that J.R. had weak oral muscles which is why he struggled with pronunciation, he also spoke from the back of his throat instead of the front of his mouth. Example: instead of saying Dog, he said Gog, the G sound coming from the back of mouth compared do the D sound coming from the front. (Did you try it?)-

So June 2009 his first year of speech ended with slow progression. August 2009 we go in for another evaluation to see what J.R. has remembered from the previous school year, and also for me to inform them that  J.R. has developed a stutter.

Ill end this post here, and continue with that post another day.

Day 1: Becoming a Man

This R&R was different for my husband.

It seemed it came home with a motive of teaching our boy to become a man.

Which is weird to say since J.R. is only six.

I guess being in a danger zone for 7 months put an urge in him to start unloading his knowledge of life into his six year old boy. ( I had to help him pace himself)

For my husband, one of the steps to man hood is learning to fish.
(Survival in the wilderness)

The first morning he was home, he woke us ALL up at 0500 to prepare to go catch us a big one.

*Note: I was not planning on getting out of bed for 24 hours, especially since we didn't get to bed until almost midnight the evening before. I was not a happy camper*

Any who, so adventure one: We go to ODR to get poles, new tackle equipment and bait. we head out to the stock pond, I slam my pole in the door and break it in half, and he starts the careful process of teaching J.R to bait his hook, and even though we have the worms we bought in the shop, he also teaches him to catch his own bait, the kind of bait the fish in the pond will bite for, which is trout so we go cricket hunting. He teaches him where to hook the cricket, and explains the whole cricket skeleton VS casting momentum formula. (It was pretty interesting stuff)

Once we have baited Jiminy, he teaches J.R. to cast his own line.

He teaches him to watch for people behind him, so he doesn't catch a person rather than a fish. He teaches him to lock his reel once he casts, and tells him to sit, wait and be patient.

 Surprisingly, J.R. sits as his Dad instructed.

J.R and Sr. fished for four hours that day.

Sometimes they talked, sometimes they just sat there and waited.

Until finally they got alittle tug.



The fish was not a whopper but it was an amazing process to watch.

To sit and watch J.R. admire his father, and for Sr. glow with pride at his sons eagerness to learn.

On our way home Sr. put his hand on my leg, and softly said,

" I feel like I did some real parenting today".

I was amazed.

R&R Surprise

It was not long ago that I "baby sat" my cell phone waiting for a call from him

letting me know his where abouts on his journey home for R&R.

You see, it has been seven long months since my Sarge. deployed.

We went through Christmas, Birthdays, our Anniversary and other various holidays

one after the other without him and any close kin near by.

This R&R was a much needed break for the both of us.

So like I mentioned, I literally sat on my phone for 3 days waiting to hear from him.

Everyday I grew more nervous not hearing a peep from him,
so nervous I was unable to sleep.

One Wednesday morning the FRL from our  battery came into my office at work to

let me know he would be picking my husband up from the airport the following morning.

"Odd?" I thought, "Why didnt he call me?"

" because the phones were backed up," he was quick to answer

 but said he had heard info from the liaison downrange that Sarge. was on his way.

I was so excited, I finally had information, that I didn't question him further. 

So on my lunch break I left the office to do my produce shopping.

I picked up my purse and walked out the building gleaming with the little bit of information I had.

I was in a daze, looking down at my shoes, smirking at the thought of him walking through the front door the following morning, when I looked up to point the clicker to unlock the car, and saw my old man running towards me from across the parking lot with a dozen roses.

I was in such shock, I couldn't move.

He surprised me.

((I hate surprises))

 I screamed

(maybe beat him up a little)

He smirked, "Hey baby, where you going?"

I replied: "Uh, grocery shopping  for your home coming TOMORROW!?!"

I look behind him at my mischievous FRL smiling with pride that he fooled the clever Mrs. Mims. It most definitely was home coming to remember. I cant wait to share our most recent adventures with you as we reconnected over 14 days, and then prepare to say good bye.