I had two goals when I went full time in June – start a blog and concentrate on making sure Cohen has the best childhood EVER. Well I just started this blog a few months….blogged a little here and there but that was it. Why? Because well I was making sure Cohen and I had an amazing summer and fall filled with movie dates, fun lunches, starting a new preschool, walks to the park and going on new daily adventures.
Cohen is a shy but gentle child who loves to smile. He loves to play pretend, eat cookies, ride any toy that has wheels, visit his grandparents, watch movies and wrestle with his dog. When he came into our life Mikey and I’s hearts became completely full. With all the recent events that’s been happening around the world its reminds me to cherish every single moment with him. Though there are days were he drives us completely crazy to where I honestly want to crawl in a ball and cry because being a parent is so darn hard – I just remind myself that these ‘terror moments’ will pass!!!
The real reason for this blog post is to start writing and documenting about the beginning journeys of having a child with Apraxia. For those that don’t what this is its an oral motor speech disorder affecting an individual’s ability to translate conscious speech plans into motor plans, which results in limited and difficult speech ability.
I’m not sure if many of you know this but Cohen has always struggled with his speech. He’s never been able to really talk except a few words here and there. We figured it was a mixture of being an only child, shy, a boy and that he would eventually just start talking when he was ready. But I always knew deep down that it might be something more serious. He’s seen almost every specialist in the Fredericksburg Area to see if maybe we were missing something and to just make sure our child was ok. From an ENT to a Allergy – Cohen has seen his fair share of doctors and specialist just to be sure but they always said he was perfectly fine. Most of them said ‘he’s a boy – he will get there.’
In August, I said to myself ‘well that’s it’ I’m going to bring him to see a speech therapist no matter what anyone else says – so I did. After the first initial visit it was obvious that Cohen was very behind and after a few visits the speech therapist said that he was showing definite signs of Apraxia. I’m not sure what its like for other moms but hearing that there is anything wrong with your child will bring you to tears.
After talking to the therapist and googling Apraxia I realize hmm this is not soo bad. Though it’s a serious speech disability, Cohen will eventually be able to cope with it with the help of extensive speech therapy. I feel that blogging about it and keep a record will one days give Cohen something to look back on say to himself ‘man, I’ve come a long way and all that hard work was worth it.’ So for now he sees a speech therapist 2x a week and will also start group therapy sessions through the county soon. We will also be going to MCV to see a developmental doctor to get the full check-up and though the therapist said Cohen definitely has Apraxia – only the developmental doctor can make that diagnosis.
Along with all the blogging I have planned for this year – I have decided that Thursdays will be Cohen’s day to be featured. So be on the lookout for ‘The Adventures of Cohen’ to be visiting this blog more often 😉
xoxo Samantha
Also, if you want to see more daily photos of Cohen – follow us on instragram @thephotographysmiths
Here are some of my favorite photos of Cohen from 2012!
