Therapy

One thing that can cost quite the pretty penny for folks in North America is therapy.
Whether it's physiotherapy, mental therapy or speech therapy (I know there are more kinds out there but cannot list them all) - it'll cost you.
Some employers offer their employees free therapy at certain therapist offices...which is great!  And which I have used in the past to get over some troubling events in my life.

Never would I have thought that I would need to get my 2-year old therapy.
Well, in Finland - for children- therapy is free (so I've been told).
Why does my 2-year old require some therapy?

Well, V�in� is 2-years old and doesn't speak at all.  Some relatives on my husband's side didn't speak until they were older than that...but we thought it was odd because let's face it: I talk a lot.
That and he's surrounded by languages...English and Finnish and a little Portugese!! (Good friends of ours are from Brazil and visit regularly).
But it's not just the lack of speech that had us concerned at first.
We noticed that V�in� may love his DVDs to the point of obsession...and he doesn't play with toys at all....he loves books though but doesn't look at them page by page either.  Lately he hasn't played on any of the playground equipment either!!  And he normally LOVES the swings!  Perhaps it's because the swing seats are cold because of the winter...but still....
If you pointed at something - he wouldn't look at the item or spot you were pointing to..he'd rather look at your finger.
95% of people he sees on a semi-regular basis - he's terrified of.  We can't figure it out...he just ignores them and if they try to hold him - he goes wild.  And not the "I just won a million Euros!!!" wild either.
And the hardest thing is that V�in� doesn't listen.  I'm positive he understands what we're saying - but if he's bouncing everywhere - no matter how many times I clap my hands, yell, sit him down on a time out - he just goes back to jumping as soon as my back is turned.
(The list could go on forever...don't get me wrong - there are plenty of wonderful things about V�in� too!)
This has all been very frustrating...I am willing to admit that it has sometimes put a strain on our relationship with our son and between my husband and I too.  After much discussion we finally decided to be open-minded and realize that perhaps it's something a tad more serious than being a "spirited child" as we originally thought.

Thanks to having regular Neuvola appointments with my youngest, the nurse has been asking about V�in� regularly and back in December she recommended a speech therapist.
I was there again last week and advised her that nobody has called to make an appointment yet - so she got on them for me and this morning I got a phone call from a local speech therapist.
AND the speech therapist is going to request a young child-psychologist sees V�in� as well!  This is great.

We are suspecting that V�in� may have some spectrum of Autism or Asperger's Syndrome and we're trying as hard as possible to get not only the help he needs but the advice we need to help him grow and be more sociable.
(Poking other kids in their eyes can be cute only for so long - right?)

I'll keep you updated on this journey - not that I enjoy spreading my personal life on the internet in this fashion, however, I hope this can reach other parents that perhaps live in Finland  (or another country) and I want you to know how things go here.  And that there's nothing wrong with getting some help when you need it.