My little girl, growing up so fast! She reminds me so much of me that I think it is funny!! One thing I admire about my little girl is that she speaks up and says what is on her mind without worrying about hurting your feelings. I love that raw edge that comes about her!!When she was little, she had a hard time communicating what she wanted to say. She was doing the usual baby babbling, and then she regressed and quit the baba, dada, mama. She quit babbling like a lot of little ones her age and everytime I would say something to our family doctor, he would tell me that her brothers were probably talking for her and that it was a phase that would pass. I didn't like his answer!
I eventually got through to the doctor that the way that her speach was developing was not normal and I was becoming ever more frustrated with her self-mutilating attacks on herself when she couldn't get us to understand what it was that she was trying to say! He referred me to Centennial Boces in Weld County and I made an appointment for Ashleigh to see their evaluators as soon as possible!
The day we went to have her evaluated she sat silently as she was instructed to do this task or that task. At some points she would look straight ahead of her like no one was in the room!
They approved her for speech therapy and pre-school. Ashleigh started school a week before she turned three.I am greatful that our county had a program that helped Ashleigh come out of her shell!! She began to make the necessary connections with speech and the sounds that came out of her mouth. The temper tantrums weren't as bad and once we could get her to calm down enough to communicate what she was trying to say things became easier for her!
Ashleigh eventually would mimic her teachers. She would use the little whiteboard she received for Christmas to write her classmate's names and act out what happened in class that day. She is doing wonderful with school and when she has eventual hangups on things I'll have to remember that she needs patience and understanding and most of all love from her Mommy!!! She is my little spitfire, mostly happy and energetic. She loves her parents and she loves to bug her siblings. She enjoys her time with her grandparents and she is the light of my life.
