Please Pray for Megan's Speech




Some of you already know about our little girl’s delayed speech development. Megan turns 3 next month and ‘talks’ plenty but does so using mostly only vowels. A few months ago as it became more and more apparent that there might be a problem, we began praying hard as we struggled with what to do. Then the Lord brought a pediatrician to us in one of the groups that visited our mission this summer. Dr. Gayle Murray advised us that Megan really should see a speech therapist. So the search began. We were starting to think that there was no help for us in country and were prepared to go to Nairobi, Kenya or even the States. Then we found a speech therapist in Kampala. She and her husband are from the UK and are here with MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship). Her husband is an airplane mechanic. We traveled to Kampala last week to meet with her. She did confirm that Megan’s speech is ‘severely delayed’ but she brought us much hope. She is putting together a course of therapy to use with Megan. She assures us that when we meet with her again in a couple of weeks, she will be able to teach us to do the therapy ourselves and that she will really only need to meet with us every few months to assess Megan’s progress and perhaps help us make any needed adjustments to our work with her. We are very thankful for the Lord’s wonderful provision. We sure would appreciate your prayers that this therapy will go very well. Pray that mom and dad will be good therapists and that Megan will be an eager learner.



Comments

Fabian Fibonacci said…
Oh I am glad you found one in Kampala! Of course we would have loved if your search for a speech therapist brought you back to the states. We miss you. We'll pray for Megan's speech therapy.
Alison
August 31, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Anonymous said…
I attend Bayview OPC,and was directed to your blog by our church's prayer chain. I'm a physician and autism spectrum mother. Understanding how difficult it might be to get competent help from where you are, I still want to suggest that you get an evaluation by a developmental pediatrician or child neurologist before you begin the speech therapy. Autism is the most common reason for severely delayed speech, and it's important to determine as early as possible if it's present, because treatment generally fails if not begun very early--in fact, before age 4. A comprehensive evaluation would also allay any other concerns that she has other issues that aren't being addressed by the speech therapy. I'll be happy to correspond with you about this if I can be of assistance to you.
Dr. Laura Hendrickson
August 31, 2008 at 5:14 PM
Andrew Moody said…
Hey David,

Our youngest son, Job, has a mild form of Aspergers Syndrome, and has issues with his speech. He started seeing a speech therapist this last year and it has helped him a good bit, though his problems are primarily with social issues.

What a blessing to have a therapist so close (in relation to going to other countries).

We'll pray for Megan's development as you begin to work with her at home.

Grace and Peace,
Andrew Moody
Amarillo, Texas
August 31, 2008 at 7:18 PM
Brenda said…
Dear Okkens,
I'm so glad to hear about Megan's good news. We are definitely holding you up in our prayers here in Long Beach.
Much love,
Brenda
August 31, 2008 at 9:22 PM
Unknown said…
Hello David and Sunshine,
It's so wonderful that God sent you a doctor, and then you've gotten access to a wonderful therapist not to far away! I'm not going to complain about having to go 30 miles to a doctor any more! Our oldest son had a lot of ear infections, and when he started having some trouble in first grade, someone recommended a hearing test. Turns out the frequency of the consonants, especially initial consonants of words, is such that with minor hearing loss, he couldn't hear them. If they can't hear them, they can't understand the word, and possibly at the pre-speech time, can't learn to say them! So "cat" sounds like "at" or "a". I think they can do pretty could hearing tests on 3 year olds... although that might take a visit to Kampala. Hope this helps, and that Megan finds her words!
God bless you, and we'll certainly pray with you about this!
Ginny WIsdom
September 1, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Damaris said…
Hi Sunshine,
I'm so happy you have a blog and I can finally talk to you. You and your family are frequently on my heart and in my prayers.
I am writing this to you and thinking of how difficult it can be to be a Mom. Sometimes, you have to deal with the most difficult issues. Fortunately, you have God, David, your family and a whole bunch of friends who love you and support you.
I heard about Megan and I was so concerned.
I read Dr. Laura Hendrickson's post and I agree with her. In other words, what she is saying is that you have to make sure that all of Megans developmental milestones are in order. That's why a comprehensive evaluation is necessary.
It may in fact be only her speech that is delayed and that may be the only intervention that she needs. However, if she has a comprehensive eval. then you can be sure that the speech delay is not an indicator for other childhood developmental issues.
The most significant issue is timing. Megan is still little and her brain is growing. The earlier that you establish what her needs are, the better. The research shows that early intervention combined with aggressive treatment leads to very positive outcomes for children in later years.
I am confident that Megan will do beautifully with the speech therapy and any other treatment she may need.
You are an awesome Mom Sunshine. I will be praying, as always, for you and your family.
September 1, 2008 at 4:37 PM
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