I don't say that because I don't want to explain it, I am mostly afraid that I am going to screw it up and give you wrong information for a program that I feel has been a Godsend to our family.
In October, a group of 3 women came to our home to "evaluate" the girls (this basically means that they played with them and took notes, at least that is what it meant to the girls). After about 2 hours, they discussed what they saw to be the issues and also our plan of attack. As we figured, both of the girls have a delay in their speech. We are not sure why (why is really not important) but Zali (34 months old) was at a 27 month level and Zannah (22 months old) was at a 10 month level.
I am going to be honest, to hear the numbers, it made me feel like a horrible mother. Like I had not done my part to educate them and ensure that they were where they should be. I was assured that this was not the case at all. It could be that neither girl felt that they needed to talk because everyone does it for them.
Anyway, I was told that I would receive a phone call within the next 7 days and therapy would start no later than 14 days after the evaluation. The therapist called and said that she would be at our home the following Monday and see if having the girls together was going to work or not.
Marilyn (their therapist) arrived 10 minutes early. Walked in and immediately the girls were intrigued. She brought her own toys, ipad and pens/paper... what could be wrong with that? They played for 2 hours. They were interested and participated the entire time. Marilyn was writing on a pad of paper when the girls would say something new. I sat on the couch and really watched how they interacted with Marilyn, it was different... refreshing. I am not used to watching them interact with anyone other than Bryan or myself so it was nice to see them in a different light.
When the 2 hours were up, Marilyn came back up to the couch to talk to me about what she felt. I was full on expecting her to say that she would rather have them separate so she could concentrate on them individually... that was not the case. She started with, "Mrs. Luhrs, I just have to say what a pleasure your girls have been. I was anticipating it being much more difficult to get them to work separately and I thought for sure there would be at least a struggle for my attention but I was very wrong." This made me really happy.
Since that first date, Marilyn has been to our home 4 times. The girls light up when they see her at the door. We both get on the floor with the girls and I watch her so that I know what I should be doing when it is just me here. Since the first visit, Zali has started to speak much more clearly so it is not just me that understands her (which is what I was hoping for). Zannah has started to try to say words instead of being silent and talking with her eyes.
This is everything that I have ever wanted for my girls and so much more. Watching them play on the floor with Marilyn and seeing the progress that they are making is complete bliss to me. Having Bryan understand what they are saying instead of me translating for him is a huge relief.
I am so thankful for this program, it has made a huge difference in my girls already and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to use the service.
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