They say it takes a village to raise a child.
Three years ago, I took my oldest child to preschool. Most moms and dads get to drop their children off at preschool hoping they will learn numbers, colors and play skills. I dropped my child off hoping he would learn to talk.
Cooper had no words as he approached his third birthday. None, zero, zilch. Diagnosed with apraxia (a severe speech disorder), he couldn't say mommy. He couldn't say daddy. He couldn't tell us which toys he liked. He couldn't tell us what he wanted to eat or drink. He couldn't talk. Things had gotten so bad, he would literally bang his head into the wall out of frustration when we couldn't understand him!
We went to the Hilliard City Preschool hoping they could help him. It's a place that welcomes kids who need a little extra help with typically developing kids....peer models that help their classmates without even knowing it.
Chris and I had one goal for Cooper.....COMMUNICATION. We wanted him to be able to speak and communicate like everyone else in time for kindergarten. It was a goal that wasn't going to be easy to reach....remember, he was almost 3 and had no words.
Today, Cooper is 5. And he has hundreds of thousands of words....full blown fabulous sentences. If you met him right now, you might not know how delayed his speech really was.
And it took a village to get him there....
Private speech therapists, peer models at preschool that doubled as friends, incredible teachers, Nannie and Nana who listened and offered endless amounts of advice and even money when we needed it, and our closest family friends....who celebrated every milestone with us.
There's still more work to be done...a few sounds that need to be tweaked. But for today, we'll forget about the to-do list and just celebrate the victory. COOPER IS READY FOR KINDERGARTEN!!!!
And I want to share this moment with "our village." More importantly...I want to say thank you to our village for helping us get here.
Thank you!!! ThankyouThankyouThankyou.
First day of preschool (August, 2008)
Final Day of Preschool (May, 2011)
I stumbled upon your blog and this is wonderful to read. I can completely identify with what your are saying. My daughter is finishing up her first year of pre-school and I can only hope she will be as ready as your son is for kindergarten. Congratulations!
Posted by: Laura | May 31, 2011 at 09:36 PM
Congrats to Cooper! I've been reading your blog for a couple years, ever since my boy was about 2 and not talking. Thanks for blogging about what Cooper has been through, it helped us get the help we needed. He's just finishing his 2nd yr of preschool in Gahanna (1 more to go), and doing great.
Posted by: Rebecca | June 02, 2011 at 10:53 AM
Yeah Cooper!!! Just stumbled across the blog. My little guy is having a tough time finding his words. It was so encouraging to see Cooper's progress. Thanks for sharing some hope :)
By the way, we are in the neighborhood- we're the ones on the corner, who are always outside playing. Feel free to stop by anytime and join in the games- mostly girls on this corner except for my 2 boys. They'd love to have other boys to hang with!
Posted by: Cary | June 10, 2011 at 11:57 AM
Thank you for sharing this!! So many mothers in the same boat are looking for answers and HOPE. I'm going through the same process and find this success story very hopeful for my son. Thank you!!
Posted by: Susan | July 14, 2011 at 07:07 PM
This is exactly what I needed to find this afternoon. After finding lots of scary apraxia stuff on the internet (sometimes I truly hate Google), I was so relieved to find your story that I almost cried. My little guy is still very young-- only 20 months-- but we're already working with a speech therapist who is pretty certain he has apraxia. I'm so impressed by and hopeful because of your child's progress. Congratulations to him and to you too, mama.
Posted by: Kerri | August 04, 2011 at 11:07 AM
Thank you for telling your story. I feel like I have no one to talk to about apraxia that understands it. Reading your story has been so helpful.
Therapists believe my little 2 year old Ben has mild cerebral palsy and speech apraxia. It's been really hard to know what to do for him and to envision what his life will be like. He has worked so hard with physical therapists and has started walking and running. Most people would not know he has muscular issues. But now that we have overcome a lot of his physical delays we are concentrating on his speech. Watching videos of your Cooper has been great for me. Ben sounds very similar to Cooper. I'm so happy for you and your family that speech therapy is working. I wish the best for Cooper and hope that therapy works as well for Ben.
Posted by: Ashley | September 08, 2011 at 06:33 PM
Dear Walsh family,
My first son was diagnosed with Verbal Apraixia over 11 years ago. He also had no words at age 3 and I didn't hear my name until he was close to 4. Back then I had to fight to get the services he did get and we spent our own money getting Joshua the help he needed. He is now almost 14 years old and you would never know he ever had a problem. I have since had two more sons and we are dealing with our youngest son and verbal apraxia again. He is 22 months old and still has no words. He has a few sounds and he is in speech. Having been through it before I know now know so much more, not that is any easier. We use sign language to help ease his frustration some. I'm so happy for you and Cooper. He is quite adorable. Keep up the great work and thank you for your blog. It is nice to know there are people out there that understand and care.
Posted by: Melanie | October 25, 2011 at 06:01 AM
What a lovely story to stumble on!! Well done to you all! :D
Posted by: Tera | November 22, 2011 at 02:45 AM
When I first took my little girl to a preschool I was a bit happy and nervous. Happy that she will be learning something in school and make friends at the class. Nervous at the same time because she might pee or poop in her pull-ups or some kid would make her cry. Anyway, I understand those are part of growing up and I am so proud of her.
Posted by: UK Toy Stores | January 03, 2012 at 05:34 AM
Thank you for sharing your story. It really helps to hear that it's possible to see such fast progress, even though fast seems like forever on my side. I am the mom of a 2 year old who has just started his therapy for apraxia and I'm working on getting my village. Because of mom's like you, I started keeping track in a blog as well. Mostly for my sake to see the progress as we go. Bless you and your family!
Angel
http://elissearchforwords.wordpress.com/
Posted by: Angel Morris | February 09, 2012 at 09:21 AM