I love my job!

Not many people can say they truly enjoy their jobs... they go through the motion and get what needs to get done... get paid and live their lives. Well not me, I love my job. Why? Because today, I made a difference... and I do it everyday.
I have a case, a difficult one because this child does not talk, he has Apraxia of the Speech (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apraxia). This boy just 21 months old doesn't make the sounds or words like other children his age, not to mention that every time I see him, he clings to his Mom for dear life. The Speech Pathologist and I decided that I should work with him once a week in order to elicit rewardable behaviors. To start, we just wanted him to clap on command for desired objects. (this would progress to making desired sounds, then words) His Mother reported that this turned out to be a grave task, he would just cry and get frustrated. I was nervous about going today because although I have worked with children with speech delays, I have never worked with a child that was Apraxic. I arrived at the house and as usual he shrunk away from me as his siblings gathered around to see what toys I had brought. As I brought out toys I thought he would like, he slowly pushed his sister near to get he toy for him. I asked his Mother to have him clap in imitation to me but every time she tried he would stiffen up and cry in protest. I then had him sit in her lap to repeat the activity... I don't know what exactly happened and in what sequence but at the end, he was clapping every time he wanted something from me and I even heard some sounds come from him. I saw the gratitude of hope from his mother and the smile from him I will never forget. I knew then, he would be ok. Who can say they love there job, I can!