It’s a constant battle between ourselves and the government; who is in charge? Who gets to run what and who gets the say over what should, could, won’t and will be done?
I believe there can be good in what the government provides for those in need but so often they find themselves caught up in so many rules and regulations that they end up hurting those they aim to help.
Thank you, but….
Some of you may already know from previous blogs that my son is right where he should be in some areas, well above average in many, but significantly below average in speech. He will be 2.5 years old on Christmas Eve and he cannot say even 15 words. There’s only a handful of words he can say in full without dropping the ending.
Through the government, bless their hearts, you can get free therapy for your child. In Tennessee, once they age out at 3 years old, they can no longer be provided this service. You can hire a professional speech therapist but sometimes that isn’t even an option (financially) for some families.
We started this free service back in September (if not sooner). We’ve met over and over and over again with various different people that work in this system and I couldn’t tell you who is who or where they work or what part they play.
They ask the same questions.
They get the same answers.
They watch Jackson play with the same toys.
They watch how he interacts and it’s…you guessed it… always the same.
Nothing but wasted time and paperwork, it seems. Meanwhile my son continues playing with children who cannot understand why he won’t talk. They ask their parents in front of us, “why won’t he play?” or “why won’t he talk?” or “He doesn’t talk. I don’t know why.” and my favorite one yet, “I think he speaks Spanish”. (Jackson has his own language and it honestly does sound like a foreign language.)
I’m thankful you tried.
Now, I’m not really upset with the therapist and the case workers. I know they’re swamped. I know they’re underfunded. I know it’s a very thankless job a lot of times. I feel for them. I see you. I hear you. I’m not angry with you.
What I am? Is a mother who desperately wants her son to tell me what he’s thinking in a way that I can understand. I’m a mother who wants to be able to respond to my son so that he knows I’m interested in every word that touches his lips. I’m a mama bear who’s trying to stay patient and kind because you’re not the ones keeping my son from progressing.
So while I’m thankful you tried – you’re still trying – to get my son the help he needs, I’m sad to see a good system with good people and good hearts falling short. Maybe there’s no current way to fix it. Maybe this is the best it can be. I sure hope not. I sure hope there aren’t other people out there like us, waiting 5+ months to get any sort of help, knowing they’ll be aging out in 6 months.
I plan to write whomever I can about this. I don’t want other mamas and their cubs to have this hanging over their hearts as well.
If you happen to have any information about this, advice or just encouragement, please feel free to comment below.
Thank you, lovelies.
The Nashville Wife 
I’m sorry y’all are having to go through this. We’re having some similar struggles with MNPS’s inability to cope with our son’s needs and are very frustrated by it.
One of the biggest problems plaguing government agencies is lack of funding. As long as Grover Norquist and others like him have a death grip on American politicians, as long as the Tea Party exists, as long as our elected representatives keep cutting taxes, that problem will only get worse. If you want to help other parents whose children need help, start writing your elected representatives to tell them you want your government agencies properly funded more than you want another tax cut.
Good luck to you and your son, who sounds amazing!
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I’m afraid I’m not aware of what MNPS is? I’m sorry you’re having difficulty with them, though. We’re so emotionally invested in our kids which makes it all so much harder.
I have the District Administrator’s e-mail with TN.GOV who heads the department, I’ll be starting there and see where it takes me. Thank you so much for your kind words, encouragement and advice!
PS: my son truly is amazing. He could go the rest of his life without speaking in a way we understand and I couldn’t love him any less. ♥️
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MNPS = Metro Nashville Public Schools. Our son was having some behavioral struggles. We took the proper steps to have MNPS bring in the Childhood Behavioral Specialist and even met with her a couple of times and with her help implemented some behavorial modification programs that were working for a while. Then we just quit hearing from her, and The Boy’s behavior worsened. When we asked the school why we hadn’t heard anything from the Specialist, after they looked into it, they found out she had been terminated, and the position was not going to be filled. So yeah, really helpful.
Thank you for your response. Good luck!
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Oh no!!! I’m so sorry! Did you find someone else? And I know there’s a lot of companies that deal with behavior and I think Metro Nash (or I guess MNPS) uses multiple. Some even come to your house (like ours. Feltz.)
Hopefully you get the help you need. You’re obviously very caring parents!
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Sorry to hear this. Ur family is in my Prayers. I have 3 kids myself and do what i can to protect and fight for them.
Its especially hard when we feel helpless at times. God Bless.
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Thank you! It IS hard, and it’s hard to not react when we’re so emotional with our kids. It’s important to show patience and grace, to be a good example, but it sure is hard when it comes to the littles. ♥️ Thank you for your kind words
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