Justin is now about to turn 4 and doing fantastic. In January we started supplementing him with efalex (a fish oil). We noticed a huge improvement in his vocal abilities. He became very vocal and seemed  try harder to speak. We have switched him to Pro EFA, which is also a fish oil, and have noticed even more improvements. His anxiety is way down and he is talking constantly! He has very poor articulation, but his voice is music to our ears.

In March of this year Justin had an evaluation at the Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning at UNC in Chapel Hill. He was evaluated by a team of doctors, a Developmental Pediatrician, a Hearing Specialist, and a SLP. They were amazed at his progress in the past six months and agreed he is doing great. They encouraged us to purchase him an augmentive Communication Device, which I strongly disagree with. Although his articulation is very poor, he tries very hard and succeeds with communicating We will continue with the 3 days a week of speech therapy, and therapy at home.

We also went to see an Occupational Therapist to see if we needed to start going on a regular basis. I was so happy to learn that he has worked through most of his sensory integration issues, and even though he is hypotonic (low muscle tone) he is compensating for it and meeting all his milestones. He does not like to write, color or draw, but he is still not far behind on these tasks. I learned that drawing and writing are an extension of language, and therefore hard and frustrating for him. I have found that he enjoys tracing stencils, so I continue to practice with him that way.

Our main goal now is to boost his self-confidence level and to get him interacting more with young children. I interviewed many preschools for placement this fall (2001)and believe I have found the perfect one (let’s hope!). It is very small and very structured. They follow the same schedule every day, and teach honor and respect as well as education. I decided to enroll him in the three year old class – he is behind socially and I think it will help his self esteem to be around others who are closer to his “spirit” age rather than his chronological age.