rubenpants.com - a journey…

My son graduated from speech therapy today. Well, not exactly. Today was his last session with Carol. And according to my wife, it was a perfect closure. He listened, talked, pointed, played, giggled with anticipation, all the things that the world’s neurotypical kids supposedly do. We’ll look around for a new speechie when we land in Spain in one week’s time. Lordy Lordy Law, my to-do list is growing exponentially for each passing day. Money is tight, time is tight, energy is low. The one saving grace of this transition is that Rubén is doing freaking fantastic.

I’m almost afraid to say it. As my regular readers know all too well, this journey has had more ups and downs than a weeklong excursion to Cedar Point. I’m afraid I’ll jinx it if I start taking recovery as a given.

Whatever sensitivity Rubén was having to the DMPS (or perhaps it was all the mercury moving around that he was sensitive to) appears to have subsided. We do regular epsom salt baths and liver drainage support to keep his disposition in check, but it’s been pretty smooth sailing lately.

His language is exploding (80-90 words), his mood has been great, and he’s growing increasingly tolerant of other people, including children. We’re trying to encourage more “cousin therapy” so that this tolerance shifts toward interest, and then blossoms into full, joyful interaction.

Oh, and he said “Mamá” for the first time in over a year tonight. Of course, María José cried. Tears of joy for a change. It made her week.

While acknowledging the progress he’s made over the last year, my wife never felt it was “road to recovery” kind of progress. Today at lunch, after listening to her excitedly recount the events of the therapy session, I plainly asked, “Are you starting to feel that perhaps he’s on the path now?”

A broad smile swept the lips of my spouse, the one who has always kept a decidedly less positive view of Rubén’s progress. “Yes, I do.”

Awesome.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 16th, 2005 at 8:36 pm and is filed under Milestone (yea!). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.