When I was one and a half years old, it was clear that I was developmentally slow. My parents sent me to various doctors to identify what the matter was with me. Various diagnoses, from autism to growing pains, were thrown out, but a general consensus was that I couldn't speak and I couldn't respond well to stimuli.
|
From then until age four, I would see three therapists, speech, occupational, and physical, almost daily. My mother dedicated years to taking me from one therapist to another to ensure that I received proper care. As time progressed, it became clear that my biggest issue was speech, with slight muscle problems.
Yet, I don't remember much, if any, of this. I remember having to leave class frequently to go to speech therapy lessons. The school had a speech therapist on staff, and about five of us would spend several hours with her weekly in an attempt to better our ability to speak. I stood in this program from first to fourth grade, meaning that I had speech therapy for about eight years of my life. "Graduating" from the program was odd, and even a little embarrassing, since the whole class applauded me for being "normal" now. Yet, I now enjoy public speaking more than anything. Having to learn my language at a later age equipped me to learn new languages, bringing me to my sixth today. Nevertheless, I made it to this point because I had parents to encourage me, faculty ready to help, outside programs to improve my speech, teachers somewhat aware of what I was going through, and enough confidence to push myself. Due to my experiences, I'm now planning on going into speech pathology, and investing in others the way in which I had been invested. |