Our wonderful Will!

Its been a few months since I've had a chance to write anything! Especially about Will... (who is 3ft 6 1/2 in tall and weighs 50lbs- he's a flippin' tank!)

Since we got to Spokane we have been to a couple of evaluations for Will's speech therapy. The first one was with Rite Care and it went fabulous! (The ladies are wonderful and actually listen to the parents.) We were told Will definitely has oral Apraxia of speech and he qualified for their program (which is no cost for low income families). The only downfall was they had a 6-12 month waiting list! But, one of the ladies said she could squeeze him in once a week for the summer! I darn near did back flips I was so happy!

So, Will has been seeing Miss Michelle (Or "Chelle" as Will calls her) for over month and has been doing so well!! His communication skills and patience is building with each and every visit... alongside what we're doing at home, too. He is so smart and has a memory that lasts weeks! Right now, Miss Michelle has been able to get 50+ words and/or signs with each session!!!!!! I am so thrilled for Will and proud of him!!

Aside from Rite Care, Will has been getting one-on-one attention in his Sunday school class with Teacher Dana (her daughter happens to work at Rite Care). In just the last month Will has been playing "tag" with the other kids in his class, following the class "schedule", helping dish out snack, take part in most activities and so much more!!

I really don't know what we'd do without Rite Care, my mom working/playing with Will every day and the church taking us in to help him succeed! It has been a real blessing and answered prayers to have the help from everyone for Will!

I just realized I haven't really explained what Apraxia is and how it affects everyday life. Apraxia is a lack of communication between the brain and the muscles in the mouth. In other words, the person understands everything said to them, but isn't able to verbally relay it back. Its similar to what happens when a person has a stroke in a way.
So, for Will and any other kid/person that has Apraxia it makes communicating difficult. Thus he communicates in the only way he knows how- physically. Also, until he knows you he most likely won't look into your eyes much (if at all). Why? Because people ask questions and expect a verbal answer that THEY can understand. Well, Will isn't able to talk back or use his mouth properly (right now) and what better way to not have to deal with strangers then to just ignore them. (Its frustrating, embarrassing, and makes him even more self conscious.) Its like being in a foreign country and understanding what everyone is saying to you, but not be able to communicate back with them.

Well, I could write so much more about Apraxia, but I'll save that for a rainy day.