Why I decided to start a blog

For the last 2.5 years I have been doing everything in my power to give my first born every single opportunity to gain skills in areas that he has been lacking since birth. I felt that it was my duty to do so as a parent and I am so glad that I took that chance even though it meant some sacrifice for myself and my husband. I believe that this was one of the best decisions I have made in my life to date.

When my first son was 23 months old we started speech/language services through infant and toddlers program. This was a free program. We found out about it from our pediatirican who recommended that we get our son assessed for these services. We spent about 2 months working with this therapist before moving across the country. Prior to moving I had all of the paperwork sent to the Regional Center in our local area, had copies of all the reports made and found the number to call once we arrived in our new location.

Unfortunately having all of this information with me didn't give me the one piece of information I needed in order to keep these services going when we got to this new location. I called and called for 6 months trying to get my son in for an assessment. First I was told someone would call me back, then I was told that they weren't sure if it mattered if my paperwork was there or not, then I got a script from our new pediatrician and that still didn't work. Finally I was told that there was a waiting list. After 6 months of trying I finally gave up. Giving up was one of the worst decisions I have made in my life to date. The reason being, I was never supposed to be turned away. I found out just 4 months ago that under the age of 3 every child has the right to be assessed for services from a regional center. Unfortunately this was the one piece of information no one shared with me and a piece of information that would take the next 2 years of our lives in a completely different direction that it would have taken if I had known my rights.

When my son was about 30 months old I heard about a developmental psychologist that had helped a friend of mine. The day we met this person was a huge turning point for our family. Since deciding to spend countless hours and countless dollars to help our son we have had to deal with so many different comments, opinions on whether or not early intervention for someone's child is necessary or worth the time and effort.

I am here to say that it is worth every penny, every minute and every comment you may hear from a non-believer. In the days and months to come I will share more and more of my story. I will talk about what we went through to get to where we are today, provide update on what we are going through now and our plans for where we go next. I will also talk about what happened that led me to seek out help in the first place, why I believe that every child can use some sort of early intervention and most of all why it is so important to never give up on your child and most importantly why it is ok to let go of your pride and ask for help.