He Said His Part

I have been working and working with my youngest son on his speech. We have a fantastic speech therapist and he has progressed so much in the last few months. I'm so thankful that he knows the sounds of almost every letter of the alphabet and is trying new sound combinations every day. Since the flash cards I'm using to help him with his speech have both a picture and the word on them, he is learning to read as well. By the end of the week, he can not only say, but also read, most of the words we've been working on. We also review cards so he can remember the words from previous weeks, and he is still able to read them. Yay!

He was assigned a short part for the children's program at church. And he did it. He actually did it. All the words, "I choose to follow" and then he held up a picture of our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, for the whole congregation. And he said all four words together without me prompting him. I was thrilled. My husband and my sister both had tears in their eyes. Such a simple thing, but yet so huge.

We've been working really hard and to see some progress is wonderful. I never knew what went into learning to speak. I took it all for granted with my other 9 kids--they started talking (and most have never stopped to even take a breath) and I never thought much of it. Working with my son has taught me to be grateful for even the smallest things.