When my son Elijah was born I couldn't be convinced that he was not the most perfect, beautiful baby in the universe. As an infant he hit every mile stone late. From rolling over to crawling, he was always months behind his peers. To the stranger we encountered on the street there appeared to be nothing wrong, but as he got older the differences between Elijah and other children his age became very noticeable. On the playground it was very obvious that he was struggling to keep up with the other children. He couldn't climb so accessing the play equipment without help was hard and frustrating for him. Well into 2 years old Elijah still did not have language at all, he was nowhere close to being potty trained, and he had resorted to hitting other children to express himself.
As a Special Educator I knew something was wrong and he needed to be tested
but as a parent, I was terrified.
So many times I have been the calming voice with the professional opinion for my students parents but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would be that devastated parent on the other side of the table. Finally I mustered up enough courage to contact Early Steps, Florida's Early intervention center that provides services to eligible infants and toddlers with developmental delays. They gave me an appointment and sent a young lady to my house that told me that everything was fine after spending about 15 minutes with Elijah. Of course I politely let her know that wasn't gonna fly. I requested further testing immediately and so our journey begins......
There are so many twist, turns, and surprises involved in this story you wouldn't believe it. Stick around to find out what happened when their tests determined Elijah was Significantly Cognitively Delayed (false) and 100% deaf (also false)!
It is my hope that other families can benefit from our experiences and never give up the fight to help their children.
Thank God we don't look like what we have been through!