Unfortunately, due to scheduling issues at Lurie, we had to cut out Parker's ophthalmology evaluation to get his hearing test and tubes done before the end of November. Thankfully, Parker's hearing is normal and the tubes (normal sized this time!) went in wonderfully. I am disappointed we missed the opportunity to get a really close look at Parker's vision, though. I just could not risk waiting until November in case Parker had a hearing issue. Hopefully, they will find another opportunity to do this. What we've learned at this point is that we need to work on clear annunciation when we speak to Parker. He is having trouble distinguishing sounds that differentiate similar words
This summer in speech has really been spent on working with a straw and drinking from a cup. Parker still gets the majority of his liquids from bottles, which is getting to be taboo for a 3.5 year old. We are going to schedule a follow-up video swallow study soon to see if/how much progress has been made since last year. We are really hoping to lose the thickening powder we are supposed to use for Parker's liquids from a cup. Our AWESOME speech therapist, Ms. Deanna, came up with an innovative way to get around Parker's tendency to bite straws. We are currently using aquarium tubing to practice blowing bubbles in liquids that either taste super yummy (chocolate milk, which P has never had before), or colorful water. After "accidentally" sucking inward a few times, Parker has figured out how to suck in intentionally. This is HUGE. We are hoping to keep practicing that so that he is able to drink from a straw soon. Look out, Home Depot. We might clear you out of your aquarium tubes!
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