Willow's Good News! (more testing today)

Because Willow’s speech is so severely delayed, we had her assessed today to receive private speech therapy along with the awesome therapy she receives at school. Today was the first assessment I’ve ever gone to with Willow that I left surprised and flabbergasted.  That’s right, I said flabbergasted.  

Willow left with two suckers, one she snuck haha

When we were in Cincinnati 6 weeks ago with her developmental pediatrician, we noted that while she’s made huge improvements, she’s still developmentally-wise at about 24 months (if that). Willow is 3 and a half. Even with all of the many therapies she’s received in her lifetime, even with being in preschool, even with all the stuff we do at home that she doesn’t realize is “work.” We started to realize, ok, progress is good, but maybe she’ll never get “better.” Maybe she’ll just always be delayed and that’s ok.  And we really are ok with that…we just want Willow, not necessarily development. 

And then today happened.  The miraculous. 

As the speech therapist evaluated her, I saw her do things I’ve NEVER EVER seen her do.  Understand things she’s never understood.  For example, Willow would look at a page with four different pictures and be asked, “Sally got hurt, how do you think she got hurt?” Willow pointed at the picture of Sally who fell off the bike, as opposed to Sally sitting on a chair, or Sally eating sushi (ok, that wasn’t an option, I’m just really craving a Godzilla roll). 

Wait, what was I saying?

Question after question after question like that, she answered appropriately. Then out of nowhere, she showed us that she knows the difference between boy and girl. 

She doesn’t know any of the alphabet (but she knows the rhythm of the song!), she doesn't use pronouns or verbs, she doesn't have a grasp on shape/letter/number recognition, but who cares? She loves to snuggle me, that’s all I care about. 

Question: What is the shape of a snuggle?  

Answer: NO ONE CARES.

Follow up: Just snuggle me, toddler. 

The biggest thing:  SHE CAN FLIPPING COUNT TO 10 (sort of).  She knows the rhythm of counting, she gets to 3 and then 5 and then 8,9,TEN.  She doesn’t exactly understand the concept of counting, but she can say the numbers!!!  WHEN DID SHE LEARN THAT????  Miss Susie and Miss Amanda are miracle workers. New Beginnings Childcare and Learning Center was a godsend. 

I will remember this moment.  I’ll hang onto it on the hard days and use it as fuel to keep me going when the days are frustrating and it seems as if we are going backwards.  Most of the time the process of growth of anything is painful, so if we want the results, we have to put up with the pain.  I wrote a poem about it HERE called, "To Remain A Seed" if you'd like to read it. 

That said, results aren’t what I’m going for. It’s giving her the tools she needs to be who God called her to be and that’s Willow Gracen Hutchinson, lover of water and dancing to the theme songs of cartoons.  It’s LoLo who insists on sleeping next to her daddy every night saying, “I seep dahhhhhhdyyyy.”  It’s Lo who is so quick to say “I’m sorry” which is WAY more important than letters and numbers in my book! It's LoLo G who thinks she has to fake cough before she takes a drink of water, even if no one is looking. It's this little thang that sees blueberries in the store and shouts out (as loud as her toddler voice can) BOOOOOBIES!!!!!!

A funny thing that happened was when the speech therapist asked her, “where is your elbow?” and Willow pointed to her hair bow. Willow looked pretty proud of herself and it made sense since she calls it an "ow boh." She got full credit for answering that one!

From the beginning, everyone sort of suspected childhood apraxia of speech (rightly so, it seemed as if that is what the diagnosis would end up being) which is a tough road. We could have done it, but our road is already tough and I was tired thinking about it.  Today, while we haven’t ruled out apraxia completely, it seems that it’s a phonological disorder instead (still a tough road, but not necessarily a neurological one). We heard words today like: final consonant deletion, initial consonant deletion, cluster reduction, fronting and stopping.

Guys, today I’m just encouraged. Hopeful. Joyful. Not looking ahead. Enjoying the daily bread that God has given me and today it happens to be honey cornbread, which is my favorite.  Or oooohhhhhhhh those crescent rolls at Cheddars. 

#ps #ilovefood  

I’m proud of Willow and it has nothing to do with what age she tests as or what new skills she develops. I’m just so proud to be her mom, period.  She doesn't resist the winds of change and hardship, she embraces and then dances with them. She’s as resilient as a Willow Tree.  

 

Ever bending; never breaking