Our Experience At Our Health Visitor Check Up

Last month a letter dropped through the door, a letter I had been dreading. Maxwell had been invited to see our local Health visitor. They wanted him to go in for his 2 and a half year check up and I have to admit I was nervous. Anyone who meets Maxwell knows hes a clever, happy, well behaved little boy but for months I have perhaps had a feeling in my mind that not all was right with his speech. Many children of Maxwell's age are able to speak in sentences however Maxwell is only able to say words and goes as far as counting to 3 and identifying all his body parts. Although I had taken Maxwell to the doctors to speak to them about the lack of speech they simply not helped us and have shrugged it off and have told me Maxwell does not speak as much as other children he has had "little interaction" with other children, taking this advice in we put Maxwell into preschool. Since attending preschool we have found Maxwell's speech has came on a little however he is still quite limited on the words he is able to say.

The day before we were due to go to Maxwell's appointment I checked on Google to see what other parents thought about these health visitor appointments and the reviews did not boost my confidence about Maxwell's upcoming one. I am quite a worrier and wanted to prepare myself for any thing negative that may happen at the appointment, I was also interested to see what children were expected to do in these appointments. I read a handful of reviews and I was a little worried as I had read many negative things, people saying that children are made to perform but wont perform and  reading about upset parents who have been shouted down. I did not want to go to the appointment however I knew I needed to go to get answers about Maxwell's speech. 

The day arrived and in a nutshell I had nothing to worry about!
As soon as we got there we were made to feel welcome and Maxwell was presented with a lot of activities to do. Maxwell was not made to sit down and perform in front of the Health Visitor, there was no strict schedule or routine in actual fact it was a very laid back appointment that actually made me feel better about myself as a parent. Maxwell was presented with lots of toys to play with and was allowed to play with them freely. Max saw some building blocks and by himself he built a tower, Maxwell saw a little cup and decided to feed the baby which was sat in front of him some tear. Maxwell was presented with some laces and beads and by himself he decided to thread the beads, Maxwell was given puzzles to complete and he completed them at such a high standard he was given harder ones to do, which again he completed. Whilst Maxwell played myself and the Health Visitor chatted.

The lady spoke to me and asked how Maxwell was getting on in areas such as eating, interacting with others and his behavior, every answer I gave her seemed correct and she had no worries about anything. She made comments on how well Maxwell had done with the jigsaw puzzles and how she had never seen a child complete them so quickly, we were told that Maxwell's motor skills were brilliant for his age and I felt a huge sense of pride come over me. We then got onto the topic of his speech. I told her our issues with Maxwell's lack of vocabulary and I told her how I felt that the doctor we had gone to see months ago had brushed us under a carpet. The health visitor was extremely helpful and agreed with us there was a lack of vocabulary coming from Maxwell and she was keen to get him referred to a special speech specialist. 

For a while I have been blaming myself about Maxwell's speech however we were told Maxwell's lack of vocabulary was nothing to do with us as parents and there were plenty of other reasons why Maxwell was speaking so little. As it stands we have a appointment mid September and I am hoping we can get to the cause of Maxwell speaking so little. It is a relief to have been listened to and although some people may have had a bad experience at there child's 2 and a half year checkup ours was nothing but a positive experience. I am proud to see that although Maxwell's speech isn't great, he is completing tasks on a higher level than some children his age and I am proud to see that he can play independently. I will keep you updated on how our speech appointments go. 


1 comment

  1. I told you it would all be ok, glad that Max will be getting the support he needs for his speech, Never blame yourself, you are a wonderful mum x

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