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im-just-a-br0adway-baby · 2 months

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To say that being a single mother of triplets was tough would be an understatement, especially for Alma Madrigal. Not only that her children would run circles around her whenever they could, but their development was visibly different, despite being the same age. It has become more apparent now that the triplets have recently turned three years old. Julieta and Pepa were saying so many words and even Pepa started reading the signs they saw on their walks in the village. Bruno, on the other hand, was not saying anything. Every time sound came out of his mouth, it was still completely incomprehensible.

While Julieta and Pepa both understand what Bruno was trying to communicate, mainly because he smiles or nods most of the time they are together, Alma still thought about what would happen when they started school the coming fall. She did not want to hold Bruno back, she wanted him to go to school with his sisters. At the same time, she was concerned about the fact that none of the preschools in the Encanto was going to enroll him unless his language improved.

It was not until one day when Alma’s fears would begin to shrink. She picked the triplets up from daycare one Friday afternoon and the mother and children walked through the village together. One of her friends, Rosa, saw her and she stopped to talk to her.

“Hola, Alma! I know you told me about how concerned you were about Bruno’s language, but I found someone that I think would help!” Rosa said.

“You did?” Alma responded.

“Si; there’s a speech and occupational therapist that just transferred to the Encanto, Dr. Valeria Martinez.”

Rosa then handed Alma a small business card with Dr. Martinez’s name and address handwritten on it. She looked at the business card and smiled before putting it in her dress pocket.

“Gracias, Rosa! I hope to get to see her on Monday with Bruno and talk to her about what’s been going on.”

“De nada, Alma; and good luck!”

Alma hugged her friend with a smile and continued walking with the triplets. They continued walking in the village square until they got back to Casita and the triplets dropped their backpacks on the couch. The three went into the living room to play with their toys and Alma sat on the couch in the courtyard and took Dr. Martinez’s business card out of her dress pocket. She stared at the card and smiled.

“I hope my prayers will be answered with you.”

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Once Monday rolled around, Alma took the triplets to Dr. Martinez’s office after picking them up from daycare. They walked into the office to see Dr. Martinez sitting at her desk and sat in front of her.

“Hola! You’re here for a consultation?” Dr. Martinez asked.

“Si; my friend gave me your business card and I wanted to talk to you about doing a session with my son, Bruno. I have triplets and I’ve been noticing he’s not meeting the same language milestones as his sisters and now that they all turned three, it’s beginning to concern me. I don’t want to hold him back when they start preschool next year, but I know none of the preschools in the Encanto are going to enroll him unless he can at least acquire some language skills,” Alma explained to the therapist.

Dr. Martinez took the notes in her pad. “How long has this been going on?”

“Since Julieta started talking. Pepa started talking super early and even started saying three and four-syllable words before their second birthday. I originally figured Bruno was just going to be a little bit delayed since Pepa and Julieta started talking at different times. But now that they’re three and he’s still not talking, it’s worrying me.”

Dr. Martinez continued writing what Alma was saying in her notes. “Would it be okay if I took Bruno into my office so I can get to know him a little bit more?”

Alma nodded and Dr. Martinez and Bruno made their way to her office as Alma waited in the front with Julieta and Pepa. They sat at a little table together and faced each other. Bruno looked at Dr. Martinez and studied her as she smiled at him.

“Hi, Bruno! I’m Dr. Martinez. Would you like a toy?”

Bruno stared at Dr. Martinez and reached out for her arm. He squealed in excitement and began feeling her arm until he started to hold her hands. He smiled and Dr. Martinez gently removed his hands and got up from the table. She came back with a shape sorting cube and gave it to Bruno. She took out the star toy and showed it to him.

“Star,” Dr. Martinez said as she showed the toy to him.

She then put the star inside the star hole. Bruno smiled and tried to repeat her, and sound was coming out, but he could not get the syllables. Instead, he grabbed the circle toy and put it in the circle hole.

“Circle,” Dr. Martinez emphasized.

Bruno made another noise that was incomprehensible. He tried as hard as he could to say “circle”, but all he could do was make the same incomprehensible noises he’s been making this entire time. Dr. Martinez continued writing notes in her pad as Bruno continued playing with the shape sorter and making noises.

For the rest of the session, Dr. Martinez brought out more toys and said more words associated with the toys as Bruno attempted to say them. He continued playing with the toys until the hour they had together was finished.

Bruno and Dr. Martinez came back to the front after their session to see Alma, Julieta, and Pepa waiting for them. Bruno ran to Julieta and Pepa and they hugged him as tightly as they could. Dr. Martinez took out her notes to review the session to Alma.

“During our session, it seems to be clear that he’s trying his hardest to repeat what is being said to him. The sound is coming out, but he’s having trouble with the syllables. My best suggestion would be to focus on very specific syllables before having him speak full words. I have a couple of exercises that could help him in this folder,” Dr. Martinez explained as she gave Alma the folder she mentioned.

Alma went through the folder and found several sheets with specific syllables for Bruno to work on at home. “Gracias, Dr. Martinez; this should help Bruno with the first step in speaking.”

Dr. Martinez smiled and shook Alma’s hand. “I hope this will help him. I’ll see you next week.”

Alma and the triplets left the office and walked back to Casita. Julieta and Pepa asked Bruno lots of questions about Dr. Martinez and if she was nice. While Bruno could not answer with words, the girl still knew that he liked her.

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Several weeks have passed, and Bruno has made progress with pronouncing one syllable at a time. While he has not said a word just yet, Alma was feeling optimistic about his speech because of the progress he was making. It was not until one early spring day when the triplets were drawing together in Casita’s courtyard when Alma’s prayers would be answered.

“Look what I drew!” Pepa exclaimed as she held up her drawing of herself, Julieta, and Bruno together outside on a sunny day under a rainbow.

“I love that picture!” Julieta replied.

The girls expected Bruno to make another noise to show how much he liked the picture, but instead, he pointed to where Pepa drew herself. He did not remove his finger from the paper and opened his mouth to try and say what he wanted to say.

“Pepa!” Bruno said in a way that was still a little bit slurred, but still pretty easy to understand.

Julieta and Pepa looked at Bruno simultaneously in shock as their mouths dropped open. Before they could run to their mother, Bruno pointed at the picture again, but this time, to where Pepa drew Julieta.

“Juli!” Bruno said as he smiled.

Julieta’s and Pepa’s smiles grew wider as they screamed in excitement. Alma overheard her daughters’ screaming and ran into the courtyard from the kitchen, originally assuming somebody got hurt.

“¿Qué está sucediendo? Is everyone alright?” Alma asked as she saw her triplets still on the floor together.

“Did you hear Bruno?” Pepa asked, still smiling.

“He said our names!” Julieta added.

“I… I showed him my drawing and he pointed to me in the drawing and said my name! Then he pointed to Julieta and said her name!”

Alma looked at Bruno and he pointed at Pepa’s drawing of herself again! “Pepa!” he said again and smiled. Alma put her hand on her mouth and cried tears of joy. Bruno pointed at Julieta on Pepa’s drawing and said “Julieta!”

Alma continued crying and picked Bruno up and hugged him. She cried more in his ruana and Bruno hugged her back. Julieta and Pepa ran up to Alma and hugged her and reached for Bruno to give him a hug.

“Mama!” Bruno said as he went back to hug his mother.

Alma’s eyes widened and she looked at Bruno when she heard him say “mama.” She held him closer and tighter as she cried more. “Asi es! Mama! I’m Mama, Brunito! Mama!”

Alma put Bruno down and Julieta and Pepa gave him the tightest hug they possibly could. Bruno hugged his sisters back and they sat back on Casita’s couch together. Alma went back into the kitchen, still crying tears of joy, as the triplets continued drawing their pictures together while waiting for dinner to be ready.

“Bruno talks!” Pepa pointed out as she and Julieta hugged again.

“Bruno talks!” Julieta repeated.

“Bruno!” Bruno repeated when he heard his sisters say his name.

Julieta and Pepa looked at each other, and then at Bruno. They screamed again and looked at Bruno in excitement and hugged him once more. “You’re saying more words, Bruno!” Pepa yelled.

Bruno smiled and hugged his sisters back until Alma came back to the courtyard from the kitchen. She saw her triplets still celebrating Bruno’s milestone and sat on the couch until her children were finished screaming.

“Dinner’s ready, mijos.”

The triplets ran into the kitchen for dinner and to tell Alma about how Bruno just said his own name.

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The months following the triplets’ first official day of preschool saw much more progress in Bruno’s language. Ever since he said his sisters’ names for the first time, he was pointing to more objects and saying more words. Dr. Martinez has noticed this progress during every one of Bruno’s speech sessions since. At his first session after the triplets’ fourth birthday, Dr. Martinez noticed he was much closer to being on par with the rest of his peers in his language development.

Bruno was talking more to his classmates and Julieta and Pepa could even have more conversations with him. This also helped Bruno build his confidence over time. In their toddler class, his teachers did not think he was going to meet the same milestones as his sisters because of his language delay and he was not verbally telling his teachers anything. Now that he is speaking more, his teachers have noticed he understood what they were saying the entire time, he was just having trouble verbally expressing himself.

Bruno left his session with Dr. Martinez, feeling more confident than he ever was before. He not only was saying more words, but was also saying short phrases.

“How was your session?” Alma asked as she and the triplets started walking into the village and back to Casita.

“I liked it!” Bruno responded with a smile.

“Was it fun?” Julieta asked.

“It was!”

The Madrigals continued walking and talking about Bruno’s session. The fact that Alma could have a conversation with Bruno now made all of her fears disappear. She could finally understand him and she felt like she could have a stronger relationship with him; and Bruno loved having a better relationship with his mother and sisters.

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