Today Natalie had another speech evaluation (her third by a speech therapist). The therapist saw a lot of improvement since about two months ago and is going to recommend two 30-minute speech therapy sessions per week. I had been told by Natalie's social worker months ago that the state would only approve speech therapy when Natalie is 18 months cognitively, so I wasn't expecting this so quickly. But the therapist said Natalie's cognitive score is about 12 months and her speech development is about 6-9 months, and the state will approve speech therapy above 18 months chronologically, especially since her speech lags behind her cognitive.
We're really excited to get professional help to improve her speech, but we'll probably have to wait until Natalie's swallowing therapy is completed before starting the speech therapy, because I don't have the time or energy to add another therapy that involves driving (speech therapists don't come to the house) to our current schedule.
Tom and I feel that Natalie's recent improvement is significantly caused by her getting glasses. In the past 6 weeks that she's had glasses, she's had continuous improvement in speech and motor development, whereas before she would improve slightly then plateau for long weeks.
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