Sophia's speech is something that has been bothering me for quite some time.
She tries to say things.
I try to understand.
But more often than not,
I still cannot decipher her words.
When Lily is around, I often turn to her to act as translator.
It works about 95% of the time.
But enough is enough.
I should not need a translator to understand my three year old.
It's time to get some much needed help.
Today we were scheduled for a speech test.
I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pretty sure I knew what the outcome was going to be.
When we arrived, they took us to a cubicle.
Melissa, the very kind speech therapist, told me that she was going to take Sophia through a series of tests.
Because of her age, Sophia may get a bit bored, so Melissa was going to get as far as she could.
Before starting the test, Melissa prefaced me by saying that if she noticed a pattern early on while testing Sophia, that she would stop the preliminary tests. There was no sense in wasting any time.
Sophia sat down with Melissa and began her testing.
After about nine questions, Melissa stopped and said that she noticed an obvious "g" pattern in Sophia's speech.
She also informed me that Sophia appears to be forming her words at the back of her mouth. (Normally you form your words at the front).
She proceeded to ask me if Sophia had a binkie.
Rather guiltily, I replied with a quiet "Yes".
Melissa then went on to explain to me that it's not so much a problem that she has a binkie,
but the problem lies in her trying to talk with her binkie in.
That is the reason she forms her words at the back of her mouth because her tongue has no where else to go.
Thankfully Melissa informed me that Sophia's speech pattern can be fixed.
She will however need some speech therapy.
She must undergo another round of testing.
Once finished, I will find out how often Sophia must meet with a speech therapist.
It makes me feel good knowing Sophia is going to be getting the help she needs.
It must be so frustrating not being understood.
