TU Visit...again

Andrew and I went to TU again today! This time we had Andrew's speech evaluated. Last summer, it was Ben! This would all fall under the category of "Stephanie not 'chilling out'". I promise I'm not a hypochondriac!

Andrew is 27 months and he has a very limited vocabulary, but harder yet, no desire to improve his vocabulary. We wanted his hearing tested, among other things, so we went to TU's speech pathology department. The first thing they test is hearing, so we went to the basement where they test kids. Andrew adamantly refused the odoscope coming anywhere near his ears. But he was happy to check the puppy's ears for the doctor! Next we went into the "vault". It's a sound proof room with and 18inch thick door. We sat in a chair, and Andrew started whining when they shut the door, fearing we were trapped. (It's actually quite awesome how they check kids hearing.) When Ben went, he had to wear the headphones and raise his hand when he heard a noise in one of his ears. But for little ones they have three boxes set up in the vault. One in front and one on either side of him. The boxes contain animals in them, and they will bark, or growl and they check to see if he turns to look at them. Andrew really liked this room! He was very excited when the animals would make noises, and he'd turn and point and laugh. I'm going to admit a little immaturity... When Andrew would get so tickled, I'd start laughing. And when a dog would light up, I'd laugh as soon as Andrew would turn his head, because I would tell he was so excited and happy. Halfway through I had to start pinching my leg to remind myself to pull it together, and act like an adult! Has anyone else just gotten a bad case of the giggles at a really bad time?! The conclusion was that he has sufficient hearing for speech, but they want to reevaluate him since they couldn't do the full test.

Next was the speech portion. We went to a room and the doctor brought in a box with a slew of items in it for Andrew to identify. When she sat on the floor, Andrew stopped to look what she was doing, but when she asked him to sit with her, he made a beeline for me and buried his face into me. She'd hold up an item like a sock, or a jar, or a hat, and ask him if he knew what it was. Andrew would look at the object, shake his head and bury his face. He did that about three or four times. When she would ask him to say "hat" or "sock" he'd look at her, shake his head, say "no" and bury his face! She finally bribed him with stickers, but he just wouldn't talk to her. When it was clear to him that she had given up, he got off my lap and started exploring in another box that a graduate student had brought out. He'd name some of the objects, but every time she's try to talk to him, he'd go mute.

Andrew played in the entry as I took some paperwork and talked to the doctors. When I was done, I went over and played with Rew for a little. He had found an abacus and was moving the balls along the bar. He was jabbering up a storm, with no coherent words, but he was very animated. I could tell that the two doctors, and the grad student were watching, so I had Andrew keep talking. Finally one of them asked, "Is that how he talks at home, just gibberish?" They seemed to find it interesting, but they didn't comment further. When Andrew talks like that we think maybe he's French or he's speaking in tongues! We laughed the other night that if he doesn't speak soon, he'll start Kindergarten in the ESL program (English as a Second Language) because he's so fluent in jibber jabber!

Anyways, his hearing seems to be fine, and other than his shyness, I think he's speech will be fine! We'll take him for another evaluation in March, so please pray for us, as we decide what we want to do to help him along!