I May Have to Get Medieval

My son was a preemie.  Preemies have a higher incidence of developmental disabilities.  I work with kids who have disabilities.  So I have been on the lookout for any problems since the day my sweet baby was born.  I have worried about his vision, his hearing, his muscle growth, his oral motor skills, his gross motor skills and his fine motor skills.  I have bothered the people I work with who spend time with the younger kids with questions about what is normal and what is not.  (a special shout out to our Occupational Therapist, who probably has wanted to tell me to shaddup on several occasions, for answering my questions so cheerfully.)

Zane is a very smart kid, even if I'm a little biased.  He's very alert, and it's obvious that he is fascinated by his world and that he wants to know all about it.  He's what I call a Problem Solver.  For example, most kids will go in another direction when the way is barred by a baby gate.  Not my son.  He sat in front of the baby gate, studied it, and figured out how to get it out of the way.  He didn't just do this with one baby gate--he's done it with three different gates.  He watched us opening the front door, and before we knew it he had figured out how to open it.  We put on one of those things that is supposed to "childproof" the door so a kid can't open it.  Plus we lock the front door.  Zane figured out how to turn the lock and overcame the "childproof" door handle.  Ultimately we had to have a second deadbolt installed at our eye level so Zane wouldn't exit without anyone knowing(when you are in the kitchen, you can't see the front door). 

My son is smart, yes, but he is a little behind on his expressive language. So we got him some early intervention services.  These are the services that are supposed to be happening before the child turns three.  The goal is to eliminate future problems by intervening early.  Zane qualified for those services, and in December we worked out a plan where he would see an intervention specialist to work on his behavior and a speech therapist to work on his speech.  The intervention specialist has consistently been to see Zane twice a month, just like the plan stated.  The speech therapist has been to see him once, in December.  She has called my sister-in-law a couple of times to say that she couldn't make it and she would reschedule, but then hasn't called back.  We have tried calling her and she has not returned our calls. 

The last time I spoke to the intervention specialist I mentioned that Zane had not seen the speech therapist.  I also mentioned that I would be asking for compensatory services.  She said she would be there twice a month, so she owes us at least five sessions.  The intervention specialist called this morning to say that yes, we would be getting services that were agreed upon.  She asked me if I wanted to take my complaint up the ladder.  I said that all I cared about is that my son get what he needs, and if that is happening, I'm happy.  I don't need to beat anyone up about this...yet.  My impression of this speech therapist is that she thinks that the parents of her clients are ignorant, that we won't notice that she's not doing what she said she would do.  I'm sure that she has some excuse, and maybe it is legitimate, but I don't care.  What I care about is that my son is having speech problems and the person who is supposed to be working on those speech problems is not doing her job.  And if she is treating MY son with this much inattention, what is she doing for the kids who have parents who don't know enough about their rights to complain?

I may have to raise a ruckus, as my dad used to say.  And raising a ruckus is something that I am pretty good at!