Delayed Development

Emma has been seeing a speech therapist since November. Her therapist has recommended her to enter a program for toddlers with special needs and delayed development.

So today I called the lady that runs the program. She sounded really nice and non-judgemental. She said that it is a difficult program to get into, however since Emma is more than 25% delayed and she has 2 seperate doctor referrals, Emma should be able to join the program without much effort.

I started to cry when I was on the phone with her, because she kept saying words like SPECIAL NEEDS and DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY. My little sister had special needs and learning disabilites growing up. She was held back a year in preschool and was older than everyone else. She was in special ed classes through all of her schooling. She was BADLY picked on by mean children. I never thought that I would have a special needs child. It happens to everyone else, not you. I guess I just held onto the hope that she would one day just start talking sentences. But as of now, Emma has the speech development of a 3-6 month old baby.

This has been a really difficult situation for us...we realize that we are lucky that it is only speech and nothing more serious. There are parents that have to deal with so much more than us.

We are staying positive and doing everything we can to help Emma. Sometimes catch it early and get professional help, you can help to change the future.

Whatever happens she is our beautiful princess. And nothing will ever change that.