Long time no post.....sorry!

WOW it has been WAY too long since my last post.  The good news is that it's because there has been little strife and lots of growth.

Full day K started off well and continues to be good for Will.  His special ed teachers now wish they had pushed him along to 1st grade as academically he is pretty ahead of his classmates (was doing 2nd grade math and subtraction a few weeks back).  Since his current school does combine grades after K, I have a feeling he may skip 1st and go to 2nd, but it's too early yet to worry about next year.  He is all Hellos for his friends and teachers. His aid is ....ok.... I think the match isn't the best, BUT she is a nice person and genuinely wants to do a good job.

The struggle for language is still ongoing.  Every morning I great him with a "Good morning Will" and I get in return "Good morning Da, Dad, Good morning Mommy".  It can really take him a bit to find the right words.  Yet other times  I hear "Come on Mommy" roll off his tough like second nature.  I think once he sets his mind to what he wants to say it comes more easily than finding a correct response to reply to me.

The 6th birthday brought me to tears...of happiness.  He TOTALLY got it!  Was soooo excited for cake, candles and PRESENTS.  When asked what day it was I heard a VERY strong..."it's my birthday!" Both my husband and I said this was the birthday we've been waiting for.  We can't wait for Christmas...either can Will.

Random Update

I just realized it has been awhile since my last post.  Just got a new comment on my last post (thanks Pam -  hearing that people read and get something from my blog helps me keep it going).

Things in our little MERLD world have been clicking along.  Will is making progress in development and language.  We are now concentrating on pronouns which as you may know are REALLY hard to teach.  Right now we hear a lot of "You need a chocolate chip cookie please!" Slowly we are hearing I first in this sentence, but only about 40% of the time....I'll take it.

General development has come a bit since February too.  Will is now more interested in being with us....we call him our shadow and copying our actions.  We are also getting a nice play by play.  At dinner time we are likely to hear  "Dadddy sitting down to eat....Mommy sitting down to eat"  "Mommy eating a hotdog" etc. etc.   Asking where questions is now second nature to Will, although some of the time he asks knowing where something is so we can get it out for him ie.  "Where is the kite Mommy?", but most times it is genuine.

School is going by so fast and this Wednesday we have our IEP meeting for next year.  Funny how a year can bring so many changes.  Last year I was all in a panic and now, well I'm just looking at it as a formality.  Next year will be a whole day repeat of K with ST, OT and now Music Therapy too.  Also next year Will will be receiving a 1-1 aid to help him attend to activities. Since he is in a typical classroom with 1 teacher and 20 students this will be a great help both to Will and his WONDERFUL teacher Mrs. Pilon.

I've heard stories from a few of the school peeps of how they are having short (4 exchanges) conversations with Will in the last few weeks.....so great to hear.  We are now also way more independent getting out of bed turning on Mommy and Daddy's light, going downstairs for toys and THANKFULLY using the toilet (no more OVERNIGHTS!!!!)  I have to say I miss going to his room in the morning, after I've woken up on my own thanks, to get Will, but now I wake up to "Mommy wake up please!!" so it's a good exchange.

Lastly I finally bit the bullet and enrolled Will in an extra school activity.  We are now in week 4 of 6 for bowling.  Will was SO SO exciting when I took him to the alley.  I think he thought bowling only existed on the Wii and not in the 3D world!  He is now happily taking turns and giving high 5s to his bowling partners.  It really is too cute.  This gives me hope that maybe next year we will go full out and try t-ball in the summer. 

And one final word, thankful.  I am truly thankful for my son.  He is probably one of the easiest kids to raise, language disorder or not, on the planet.  His easy going nature and beautiful smile make me realize that life could be so much worse.

Another example of MERLD

Just wanted to add another example of how MERLD effects my son's understanding and response to spoken language.

Today when my husband came home Will was pretty happy to see him. My husband asked for a high five to which Will gave him one. Then my husband held out his two hands and said high five, which was reciprocated as well. 

My husband then encouraged him to hit harder (Will's muscle strength is really weak and my husband was trying to have him apply more effort). After a few weak high fives my husband says "Give me 3!" (asking for three quick high fives) What does out dear son do? We watched as he carefully put up three fingers on each hand and gave his father a "High 3"

Sometimes I find this adorable and heartbreaking at the same time.....

Long time no blog.......

Sorry for the long span between my last blog entry and this one.  I could use the usual excuses of holidays and all that goes with them, and to some extent it was partly that.  The other part, well things are trucking along.  Progress is being made but it's SLOW. 


Had a wonderful phone conference with the school and Will's doctors in Nashville.  Was told they wished they could send every child with Will's language disorder to their school.  They had a great conversation on how best to help Will function in the school environment.  One part of this phone conversation that was hard to hear was the doctor telling the school that Will will not be making great progress this year or even the next and that they wanted the school to understand that it will be 3rd grade before huge gains are made.  I sat in that meeting and did the math......that's 4 years from now.  He is 5 now so almost another of his lifetime to get him caught up with his peers.  That was a bit hard to hear, but then I realized the end was out there and the first 5 years passed by so quick already. 


Christmas was great this year.  The idea of Santa Claus started to sink in and the opening of presents was breezed through wrapping paper flying.