finding a voice

 (for November 20th)
"Mama, I want that.  I like that".
"I want to go home"
"That's my book"
"I want to play"

This is just a sample of all of the things Henry said today.  We are three weeks into private speech, twice a week, paying out of pocket, but it is the best money our family has ever spent.

Henry is bossy.  Henry has an opinion about most things.  Henry hates going on shopping excursions with me.  Henry also enjoys when I or Peter get pounded by the boys but screams if we tickle either Thomas or Parker.

Earlier this week, Henry stayed home from school after one of his therapies and when he woke, all he wanted to do was play.  We took out the Little People and Henry had each of his figures walk step-by-step up the slide and then would push them down.  One of the little girls fell and he pretended to cry.  It was all so remarkable to watch.  It was also so fantastic to spend time with him playing with the Little People because he really tried to put the people in the bus, take the kids to school in the bus, etc.  It was a level of pretend play that I hadn't seen before today.

We also started private occupational therapy this week with a therapist with cerebral palsy.  It was a revelation.  She understands Henry better than any therapist he's ever had.  She told me that the best outcome for any child with a disability is being part of the community.  She encouraged me to look into the Special Olympics program and the Adapted Ski program at Breckenridge and Winter Park.

Finding the right situation for Henry to learn is a definite challenge and we have been looking into options for next year, but we seem to find that the only real environments with therapist involvement are either private preschool options (at around $12,000+ per year) or starting Henry in kindergarten.

I've decided (and please either comment or send me an email with your opinions) that the best option is homeschooling Henry next year as a kindergartener and then using the extra time I have to go to as much private therapy as possible.  Right now, his therapy schedule is physical therapy with Saddle Up Foundation (hippotherapy) on Tuesday morning, speech therapy on Wednesday morning, Occupational Therapy on Thursday morning and another speech therapy on Thursday early afternoon.  Each therapy lasts one hour and he seems to benefit greatly from all of these therapies, especially time on the horse.  I will most likely re-enroll him as a kindergartener when he turns 6, but Henry's birthday is August 17th and it doesn't seem right to enroll him in kindergarten this year.  Your comments please.  I would especially love to hear from those who have done homeschooling.

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