Today was the day that both boys went for their speech therapy evaluation, the one that had to be completed before the boys could begin private speech therapy outside of what they already get through the school system. I'm pretty sure it's an insurance requirement, but regardless of who requested it or why it is required, it was today.
It was a typical evaluation. Both boys have limited speech, one more than the other. And that means most of the evaluation fell to me. The therapist asks me a series of questions (often variations of the same question) to assess their receptive and expressive language skills. I am essentially tested on how well I know my children and on what they are able to do. I'm handed a huge stack of forms (times two, of course, since there are two boys) and asked to simultaneously fill them out while continuing to answer questions.
Sigh.
I cannot tell you how much I hate the process. It's never the people or the places, just the process. And this one was no where near as bad as some of the big evaluations we've gone through - initial entry into the state program, the state university autism center where the first official diagnosis was given, initial entry into the school systems, re-evaluations for additional services. There have been so many.
The process just sucks. You're handed forms that ask the same question a thousand times, that require a yes or no answer when there quite simply is not one, and that ask for information from pregnancy through yesterday (which for our boys, is nearly six years)!
Every question twists the knife just a little bit deeper. It brings the concerns, the fears and the guilt, front and center. It clearly draws the line between where you are and where the world expects you to be. And it mocks the progress you know has been made. Because there are still so many "no, not yet" answers.
But the boys and I survived it. I still have a stack of "homework" - more forms that I simply did not have time to fill out in the two-hour interview process - to complete. But the boys did well considering it was a new place and a new face. They only tried to leave a few times, and always came back pretty easily.
A written report will follow, but I am not concerned about their eligibility. Clearly the boys have language delays and will benefit from additional speech therapy. It will start in two weeks (the first opening for two back-to-back appointments). The boys will start with one 30-minute session per week, one right after the other, and then we'll go from there.
The journey continues ...
