Son’s speech improvements ‘a huge deal’

Tracy McRee with sons Liam and Ryan, and husband, Paul. Liam received speech therapy through Bay Area Rehabilitation Center.

“I have an older child, so I noticed there was a difference in the progress between the two of them. Ryan talked at an earlier age, but Liam wasn’t talking at all. I started to wonder and research about when I should expect him to start talking. Is this me just comparing him to another child or is this, in general, not where he should be?

“After his 18-month checkup, I kept trying to talk myself out of seeking help. But about a month later, whenever he was throwing lots and lots of fits and having lots of behavioral issues because he wasn’t able to communicate with me, I couldn’t handle it anymore. It wasn’t good for him and it wasn’t good for me or anyone else in our family. We said, he needs to be able to communicate. That’s when I reached out for help.

“When we started he was saying maybe 10 words, and those were single words. He wouldn’t group anything together. That was last March. Today he’s saying sentences, and without being prompted. That’s a huge deal from a year ago.

“We went from like 20 meltdowns a day because of not being able to anticipate what his needs were, to him being able to say this is what I want in whatever way he can say it. Overall now he’s so much happier, and we’re happier, too.”

— Tracy McRee