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Have you ever been around someone who talks about everything that comes into the brain? A true verbally “gifted” person that has a constant stream of verbal thought lives at our house. Yes, that would be our D.
I adopted D as a baby. I was in the delivery room and the first one to hold my little cherub. As time progressed, he made physical milestones ahead of other babies. He crawled at six months. Being a mother again after 11 years, I was encouraged by his development. Being a working mother, I also had the good pleasure of having an excellent daycare provider that had been an early childhood teacher. She also had a daughter just slightly older than D. One day upon my daily pick-up, she mentioned that her daughter could say many words, but D was non-communicative. She shared a story that a friend was working with a state organization for her child and she was receiving speech therapy. After taking down the information, I began noticing his lack of communication. He pointed and grunted but did not make words. I started researching typical development and read an article about how sign language could help these little people. I purchased a simple board book and learned the signs while I continued to show D the book and how to “say” the words. My daughter also learned simple sign language to communicate with her little brother. Within a few days, he was actively using his communication. I then reached out to the state organization and scheduled an evaluation.
In a short week, I had a state early childhood interventionist do a speech evaluation in my home. She also pointed out his physical actions, like walking on his tippy toes, and did an occupation therapy evaluation. Within two days, she completed the final assessment and said he would benefit significantly from speech therapy and occupational therapy. Thus, we began the journey of the life-changing services for D. According to the CDC, the connections in a baby’s brain are most adaptable in the first three years of life. These connections, also called neural circuits, are the foundation for learning, behavior, and health. Over time, these connections become harder to change. I can personally attest that D has made tremendous growth given neurological challenges because of early intervention. He now talks nonstop!
As a board member for PC Tots, I recently attended a board retreat to establish a clear understanding of the goals and action steps to increase access to high-quality child care in Park City. Throughout the day, I was encouraged by the mission and reminiscent of the early intervention that changed my son’s life. I am passionate to assist PC Tots to increase availability to all children in our community who needs high-quality daycare and may need early intervention.
If you are interested in learning about the state early intervention program, I have included the link to Baby Watch.