Our EI evals start tomorrow. We will have 2 people at the house tomorrow to start the process. I am not really sure what to expect and am assuming that all 3 kids will qualify for speech. I would have to say that Michael has some useful communication skills, but not a ton. He hasn't put words together yet and is almost 2 1/2. He is starting to say more and say things like bye appropriately, but noting really more than that. I am a little concerned that there is more to this than just a speech delay, but it is probably my obsessive nature that is rearing it's ugly head. The twins are not really talking either, but they are only 18 months and I thin they are doing more than Michael did at this age, but are still behind where they should be. I am hoping that EI will give me and my husband pointers on what we should be doing differently. I will feel so guilty is there have been things that I should have been doing but haven't that may have contributed to this delay. the good thing is that if they get accepted by EI, then they will get teh help that they need and I have heard so many positive stories about how EI has benefitted other's kids.
Along with the EI evals, I plan to start planning my meals better. This will help in so many ways. This is one of the major stressors in my life. I am just not good at being organized and having things planned. Along with that I will be doing better at getting myself organized with regards to daily cleaning. I need to stop trying to do things all at once and start doing things in small doses so that I don't get overwhelmed by the many tasks that go along with having a house, taking care of small kids, having a husband, and now a part time job. I need to get better at planning and scheduling so that life goes a little smoother.
Thanks for reading,
Amy
Hi Amy...I'm new to your blog but would love to comment on this, if you do not mind. I had my twins (now 23 months old) evaluated by EI at 18 months, too (17 month adjusted age). For same reasons: I felt that they did not have enough words. They had 2 words in English and 2 in Hungarian (we are raising the boys bilingually). Well, according to the speech therapists, they wanted to see about 8-10 words at 18 months! Yeah, right. So we did therapy for 4.5 months and Amy, it was awesome! The twins went from a 27-29% delay in speech to being on the "average high for 24 months"! Very proud of them. I also learned a lot of what to do with them on a daily basis, since one hour of therapy a week is not going to make that big of a difference- the parents have to be involved, too, as you know for sure. It's fun, lots of playing around and I think that it was so worth it. I hope that it will be for you, too, in case they do think that the kiddos might need therapy. Good luck to you! Esther
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