Special.

My middle child, Maggie, is 3 years old.

She has an incredible spirit.

She is stubborn and impatient.
(I can't imagine where she got these traits...)

She can be as sweet as a newborn, and as angry as a bitter old woman.

She cares so much for her siblings, and her parents.

She loves animals and Minnie Mouse.

Maggie is very expressive, verbally... the problem? We don't know what she's saying.

In December, I had her screened by the Birth to 3 program.

At the time, she was apparently "fine" and didn't fit into the assistance standards.

I couldn't believe it.

Here she was, 2 and a half, and nothing she said was understandable.

I called a few weeks ago, and asked her to be re screened, now that she was three.

Maggie speaks... quite a bit.

However, it's one syllable words.

And lots of babble.

She gets frustrated when we can't understand her.

Samantha gets frustrated with Maggie when she doesn't know what she's saying.

If she likes something a lot, she says "that my fave."

If she wants something "me wa"

If she says she loves you, "wub oooo"

Her name "Maaaaa"

She doesn't say Gavin, she says "brah."

She doesn't say Samantha, she says "Mam."

Yesterday, was her screening.

I wasn't looking forward to it.

I hate labels.

I didn't want anyone telling me that my daughter wasn't perfect.

The screening consisted of Maggie pointing to certain things:

colors, animals, objects.

They had her repeat words:

dog, cheese, umbrella...

She was measured and weighed.

They looked at her eyes, and did a hearing test.

She hopped on one foot, and threw a ball.

Then, it was time for the results.

While we were waiting, another person came out and sat on the floor with her and talked with her.

The results:

Well, they don't sound good.

Not to Maggie's worrisome Mommy.

Not to the school district.

Maggie has to have a different screening.

This time, it will be specified which program she needs to be in.

Most likely, speech therapy.

However, they think maybe there are other programs as well.

The lady who did the first screening thinks she has anger problems, and is overly hyper.

She also just could NOT believe that Maggie wasn't potty trained yet.

Are you kidding me?

Yes, she gets frustrated when she's asked over and over again what she's saying.

And you provided toys during the screening, so she was excited.

She's THREE.

(I tend to believe that ADHD is overly diagnosed.)

As for potty training, Maggie can't express a lot of things, so before she's ready to be potty trained, she needs to be able to articulate things better.

At one point, the lady that did the screening said "special education."

I almost lost it.

My child is indeed special. However, she doesn't need special education.

She needs assistance with speaking.

Maggie knows her colors. She knows the days of the week.

She sings a long, with the correct beat, to songs, even though the words aren't recognizable.

She is very intelligent.

Another label.

This mom was angry.

The woman got the wrath of mommy.

She reassured me that she just meant "special" education as assistance in speech.

I expressed my concerns about her thinking that Maggie was overly hyper, and the potty training "issue" as the woman described it.

Maggie will be tested again in a couple of weeks.

Then she will be placed into speech therapy, and where ever the school district sees fit.

I'm a little upset.

Not only because of the label she was given, but also that 6 months ago, she didn't fit into any program. She was "fine."

Slow and steady wins the race.

I know she'll be fine.

I know she'll learn even more.

I know she'll be able to articulate better.

She's still perfect to me.

But even perfect people need help sometimes.

Melissa