After being in the Early Intervention Program for two and a half years, Kyson has graduated from preschool. Kyson started the Early Intervention Program when he was about 18 months old. From the time he was 9 months old, he started throwing up everything he ate - and I mean literally. He couldn't eat. Many people believed he just wouldn't eat, but there was something wrong. He dropped 40% on his weight charts during his troubles and after many tests at Primary children's and meeting with a pediatric specialist, it was determined that he has "weak oral muscles" and he couldn't manipulate the food in his mouth. Rather than chewing and swallowing, his food went straight to a gag reflex, causing him to vomit.
He needed therapy, but the insurance company didn't think it was necessary and wouldn't pay for it. Then we were referred to Early Intervention. Not only was food a problem, but he wasn't speaking and we could see some serious developmental delays in speech. He was accepted into the program, and when he turned three, he was accepted into the preschool program. Only a small percentage of children will qualify for the preschool, but Kyson was lucky enough to qualify for their services.
Kyson has had speech therapy once a week and school 4 days a week from ages 3-4, and continues with speech therapy once a week, but had school 5 days a week from ages 4-5. He has made immense progress in his speech and socialization. I'm so grateful for the his teacher, his speech therapist, and the three aids who have dedicated so much time to Kyson. They truly have been a blessing for him.
His graduation program was adorable. They sang songs, and presented each child with a "diploma." Kyson was very last on the list so they must not have gone in alphabetical order. Kyson was probably the most defiant child in the group. He refused to smile, he wouldn't pose to get a picture when he got his diploma, and he even stuck his tongue out at me when I asked him to smile. Thankfully, his teachers had never seen him that way. I believe it's because he doesn't like a lot of attention. It scares him and he doesn't know how to react. Kodi was more excited about everything than he was. Hopefully with age and maturity he can at least act like a human being.
His teacher also made a little photo book for each child graduating the program. It had pictures of him and his friends doing different activities throughout the school-year. It was so neat to see, and must have taken her a lot of time to do it for each child. I'm so proud of Kyson, and I'm excited to see how Montessori Kindergarten will serve him next year.
