I got a call yesterday that there was a slot available in one of the developmental playgroups at the therapy center.  The staff had initially tried to tell me that Anna Grace going to playgroup once a week instead of speech would be the best plan for her.  I had doubts and I resisted this idea.  I am ok with her going to playgroup but not in place of a speech session.  The center agreed but continued to tell me over and over again how playgroup "makes all the difference".

Really?  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!

We went to our very first playgroup today.  It was nice and sweet but it was no different (I repeat…. NO DIFFERENT) than what she does at nursery school 2 days a week.  Except, at nursery school there are other kids to play with, in playgroup there is AG and one other kid.  That’s it.  The activities are nice and sweet but they are in no way "speech centered" as I had been told.  All in all, its just a fun little actitivity that is developmentally appropriate.  But… a replacement for one speech session a week?  OVER MY DEAD, LIFELESS, DECOMPOSING BODY!!!!!!   This playgroup session did do one thing though.  It convinced me that putting AG in nursery school two mornings a week instead of waiting for playgroup to start was the right decision for my daughter.  She has truly blossomed since starting nursery school (OK… so she got really sick too but lets not talk about that, shall we?).

Thankfully no one asked me my opinion about playgroup or said anything like "isn’t it great" so I wasn’t forced to lie, or worse, actually talk about it!  I am quite frustrated however that these folks tried to sell me this bill of goods.  Of further note is that the speech therapist keeps telling me that she thinks that Anna Grace has verbal apraxia of childhood and keeps giving me all sorts of information about it.  All of that information has one thing in common: they all state the key to successful treatment is speech therapy 3 to 5 times a week.  Now, I know that my kid will never get that kind of therapy, part C just can’t afford to do that. But I think that little tidbit of information is evidence enough that nobody needs to be telling me Anna Grace should go down to one therapy session a week and replace that second session with playgroup.

On the knitting front….. there has been no knitting.  Not a stitch.  Nada.