And the Verdict Is...

Jacob had a visit from TEIS today. For those of you that are not familiar with TEIS, it is an acronym for Tennessee Early Intervention System. By law, each state is required to provide develpomental/educational assistance to children with special needs. TEIS works with children age 0-3.

We have had issues with Jake's speech. It is pretty impossible to understand him and he communicates mainly through gestures, pointing and grunting. After talking to his pediatrician, we decided to get him checked out.

A wonderful lady came out today to give Jacob a screening. She asked me questions, asked him questions, asked him to perfom different tasks, watched him play, etc.

TEIS evaluates kids in five areas:

1. Personal-Social Skills - interaction with other people


2. Adaptive Skills - handling different tasks


3. Motor Skills - using his muscles


4. Cognitive Skills - problem solving


5. Communication Skills - understanding and using language

Jacob passed all areas. The screener acknowledged that Jacob is quite a bit behind in his language usage. But because his language comprehension (he understands what we tell him) is so good, it offset that score.

The conclusion we came to is that Jacob is probably just a lazy talker. He doesn't want to put out the effort to talk when he can just point and we will try to figure out what he needs/wants. TEIS is going to send me some info on ways to encourage him to use words and get talking. I hope we can find something that will work.

The screener also said that if the situation doesn't improve by October, they will come back out and reevaluate or see what they can do to help. That is very encouraging.

The main reason I wanted to write about this is because I wanted to make everyone aware of a great resource that is available if you need it. Everyone I spoke to was so friendly and helpful. I wouldn't hesitate to call them again if there was a need. It seems like a great program and it is free!