As a mom of a 3 1/2 year old who was nonverbal until a month ago, it is very hard not to blame yourself for it. I always dreamt to be a mommy, and after going through endless procedures, including In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), my little miracle was finally here. I felt like the most blessed person in the world because not only the IVF worked, but my pregnancy went really good. So from here on, we started enjoying every one of Justin’s milestones: from formula to solid foods, from tummy time to crawling, from being a baby to becoming an amazing little human.

As time passed, we noticed that Justin loved to take his time hitting
his milestones. He didn’t crawl until 8 months old and didn’t walk until about 15 months old. Everybody always said “don’t worry, boys are slower than girls” and somehow everybody but me knew a child that didn’t talk until after 3 years old. When Justin turned 18 months old, my mommy alert went off and I started looking for answers. Justin wasn’t looking at me when I spoke, he wasn’t following commands and wasn’t even interested in communicating. We started him in Occupational Therapy and Speech Language Therapy right away. We went to
different doctors until we found the one who noticed that Justin had fluid behind his ears. I felt so relieved! I felt that I wasn’t the reason for my son’s delay and that I haven’t failed as a mother. We moved forward with removing his adenoids and adding ear tubes to ensure fluid wasn’t accumulating anymore. But months kept passing, and even though therapy was doing wonders, Justin wasn’t up to par with his classmates.

As a mom, all you dream is for your child to be healthy. You want to
give your child the world, but when your dream and perfect world doesn’t go quite as imagine, your world tumbles, you feel ashamed and you keep asking yourself where you went wrong. Sheesh, I can even say I wished sometimes I went back in time to do it all over again because I was the problem. I love Justin more than life itself and since I started working at The Florida Center, I am a true believer of early intervention. My son keeps catching up and is the little victories the ones we celebrate the most. I truly believe God chose me to be his mommy because He knows I was the best advocate Justin could ever have.

Thanks to his Occupational Therapist, Justin's amazing teachers, Speech Language Pathologist, Social and Emotional Therapist, ABA Therapist and grandparents, Justin has been able to start speaking and catching up with his peers. I want to use this portal to show the importance of Early Intervention and how far my son has come in these past couple of years. The Starfish Academy at The Florida Center offers unlimited resources for our kiddos and prepares them for the future.