Wondergirl, the graduate

Yesterday was such a momentous day for our family, and especially for Sophie.  As I sit here I can still honestly hardly believe it.

Sophie was discharged from speech therapy yesterday.  She “graduated”, after 18 months of hard work.  When her first  evaluation score came back in October of 2010, when she’d only been in therapy for three months, her speech language pathologist estimated that she would need therapy for three to four years.

My Sophie girl did it in just eighteen months.

It wasn’t easy.  Sophie worked hard at therapy, and we both worked hard at home several times a week without fail to practice the skills her SLP wanted us to work on.  She also got speech in a group setting once a week at school, and attended a “Social Group” therapy with some other kids this summer while her SLP was on maternity leave.

I say it wasn’t easy, but it could have been a lot harder.  Yes, we worked, we worked a lot.  I was pretty militant about it.  But all of that time spent together was wonderful for Sophie and me.  We learned a lot from and about each other.  It helped our bond to really tighten. And Sophie proved herself to be a very fast learner.  Once she started working on a concept, she generally got it F-A-S-T.  She wowed me and her speech language pathologists time and time again with the speed with which she acquired new language skills.  I really could not be any prouder of her.

When Sophie’s SLP told me she was ready to discharge her, I wasn’t surprised, I knew it was coming soon.  But it is so bittersweet, because Sophie adores “Miss Kristen” and every single second she gets to spend with her!  Kristen and I both teared up during Sophie’s “graduation” today.

Driving home from Sophie’s last session, I had to keep from doing the “ugly cry”.  I didn’t want to scare my girl, after all.  But wow, it was hard to keep those emotions in check! When Sophie first started speech, her delay was so much worse than we actually thought it was. That was a really scary time for me, trying to figure out what she needed and how to get it.  But my mom told me, “The Lord made her and the Lord is going to take care of her.”, and she was right.  Every step of the way, we met the right people to help us get Sophie caught up.  When her first speech clinic closed, I was devastated – we loved her first SLP (hey Miss Tanya!), but that ultimately led us to Kristen, who had just ONE opening left, which we were able to get in right away (which is a miracle in our area where there is at least a three month wait for speech) and watching her with Sophie has been awesome. She HAS a real gift and IS a real gift to those she works with.

Sophie’s journey through developmental delays has been hard, but it is something I am truly thankful for. I am just so amazed by what she has done, I truly believe there is nothing she can’t do.

She’ll be done with occupational therapy in a couple of months and then maybe we’ll have a big party, or another good cry, or both – but whatever we do I will never be able to adequately express how PROUD I am of her!

I love you Sophie girl. Congratulations baby!