Consult

During our visit with our GP earlier this week, he gave me a referral to an ENT for a hearing test for Olivia and a referral to a speech therapist. I didn’t actually get an appointment that day with the speech therapist, just her name and number. I was told by the nurse to call her in a couple of days if I didn’t hear from the doctor’s office.

The therapist called me last night.

She sounded lovely on the phone. She was very interested in Olivia’s case while being very honest about not knowing if she has the skills to help Olivia.

We are meeting with her on Tuesday next week because the therapist feels that she can’t make a decision on whether she can help or not without actually meeting Olivia.

So…we’ll go and meet with her. She told me to have Olivia dressed in clothes I don’t mind getting dirty/painted on. She also suggested that O bring something she likes to play with.

We’re at a place where we realize that if Olivia won’t communicate with the person trying to help her communicate, well, what can we do? At six, she can’t write or type her thoughts and feelings. She uses me as her voice when we’re out in public and while that is fine when I’m actually with her, I can’t be there all the time and we want her to learn to speak for herself.

The therapist was encouraged by the fact that while we were at O’s appointment with her developmental pediatrician, Olivia shook her head in response to a question the doctor asked her. She looked to me first but I told her gently, “Sweetie, I can’t answer that. Only you know the answer to that question.”

Once she realized I couldn’t be her voice in that moment, she found a way to communicate. According to the speech therapist, that is a very good thing.

So…here we are. All we really want is for Olivia to have the tools to reach her fullest potential. I’ve said that over and over and over again. I’ll probably still be saying it in fifteen, twenty, forty years. I just want her to find her voice if only because only she knows what’s really going on in her head. And as lucky as I am that she shares that with me, I want the rest of the world to know how sweet, smart, funny and amazing this girl is. And I want them to learn it directly from her, not just hear it from me.