Well damn!

It has been a while.

Updates:
Still no talking. Sign vocabulary is VERY extensive now, I think they're up over 100 words. They know some that I don't recognize, which is frustrating. I try to describe them to my sister(s) for translation - handily, Little!Sis is in school for Deaf Studies and Older!Sis is a speech pathologist and has a deaf roommate, so both are fluent in ASL - but sometimes the signs Dom's teacher shows them are either not standard or totally made up. Still only saying a few actual words: ma, da, buh, uh, and eah (mama, dada, brother, no, yes). They make sounds and attempts at words but mostly they just sign.

Anyhoo. They're out of school for the next two weeks, then they'll be attending a speech therapy preschool during the month of July, four days a week (from 8-12). Then they have August off and back to their usual preschool in fall. They like their prek teachers and most of the other kids will be coming back, and they LOVE to ride the bus, so they seem happy. Mom keeps pushing me to homeschool but I think they need more than I can give them until they're talking.

They had their end-of-year testing for their new IEP, and both tested with (of course) severe expressive language delays, but they were right on target for receptive language, fine and gross motor skills, and tested at a 6 year old level cognitively! At three and a half! So that was cool.

I want to have their hearing tested again. Last time it was tested they were only 18 months old. They've been evaluated for autism and don't have any markers for it according to two neurologists, apparently there's nothing cognitively wrong, and their hearing tests two years ago came back with no hearing loss or distortion; there just doesn't seem to be any explanation for the not talking. Except that they are stinkers and can't be bothered to try, maybe. It's frustrating though, because sometimes I can't figure out what they want, or I misinterpret them. But, there've been a few times when we said something to them and they responded in a way that showed they misheard, so I want to have their hearing checked again, just to be sure. I don't know if I have to go through the pediatrician to get in there, so I guess I'll call her in the morning. She's very awesome so it won't be a problem. The children's hospital audiology department on the other hand... Oh well, they're the only ones in Hampton Roads who can do it, apparently.

So that's where we're at. I'll post some pics next.