Getting the most out of our taxes...

010, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

Henry turned 2 years and 3 months last week, and a couple of weeks ago I had his speech evaluated. One of the things New York is really good at, and I'm assuming where the great majority of my obscene real estate taxes go (we pay even more then Illinois!!!) is for special services intervention i.e., speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, etc. They have a great set up for those that need interventions or wonder if your child needs interventions. You simply request to be evaluated, and then a whole slew of people come to your house to evaluate your child. Then, if your child qualifies, specialists come to your house (this is all free of charge...well, not free, TAXES!), and work with your child until they deem it's no longer necessary.
So, anyway, I decided to have Henry evaluated for speech. His speech has increased many, many times over since he turned 2, and I'm not necessarily considered about the quantity of words. I was worried about the clarity of his speech. At 2, he's supposed to be 50% intelligible, and I'm not sure he was at that level. I figured it couldn't hurt, so I had him evaluated. The morning of his evaluation, two speech therapists, a medical student and case worker showed up at my door to play with him. They sat and played w/ him for about 2 hours, asking him questions, and showing him pictures in books, and asking him to repeat words. He had a blast. Needless to say, he didn't qualify. He was low average with his speech quality, but not enough to qualify for intervention. And, (and this part would not be a shock to anyone who knows him) but he was above average in social skills :). I'm sure he did well in this section, because he was very, very interactive with them and not at all shy or concerned with a group of people - that he's never met before - being in his house. He greeted them all at the door when they arrived, and gave them all hugs when they left. He's such a social butterfly!
We can have him re-evaluated in a couple of months if we're still concerned, but his speech has gotten clearer even in the last week. He likes to say "almost" to a lot of things. "Henry - are you done eating?" ALMOST. "Henry - are you ready to go?" ALMOST. He also likes to hold up one teeny tiny finger and say, "One minute?" when I ask him to go. "Henry - it's bed time?" One minute. He also is saying, "What was that sound?" and, "Where did Emmett go?" (or Owen or mommy).