Editor's Note: Jennifer Francis recently completed the Adult Diploma Program at the Community Learning Center (CLC) in Cambridge. She gave us permission to publish her essay, written as one of the program requirements. Thanks to Bob Aimo of the CLC for providing this essay from his student.

As a mother I have learned to trust my instincts. My children have each brought different experiences and challenges to my life. First of all, I identified developmental delay in my first child, then I sought help. Second, I also had to advocate for my second child's health. He had asthma, and his pediatrician thought it was just a common cold. Reading during my pregnancies and as a parent helped me to diagnose my children's developmental delay and sickness. Today I am a proud mother.

During my first pregnancy, I read a lot about children's developmental stages. As a result, I was able to determine that my 13-month-old child, Daniel, who spoke seldom and used a very small vocabulary, had a speech delay. I consulted his pediatrician and brought my child's problem to her attention. She referred us to a speech therapist who tested his hearing and evaluated his speech. After a few follow-up appointments, we were referred to the Early Intervention Program when he was two. Early Intervention is a program that assists young children who are developmentally delayed or at risk of it. At this age he also displayed a behavior problem, which may have resulted from the speech delay and frustration at not being able to express himself. It could also have been the "terrible" two stage.

The Early Intervention Program gave Daniel the opportunity to interact with other children his age. He learned to take turns and share toys with other children. During that same period of time he was offered home-based Early Childhood Program and speech therapy. The home-based program offers a once per week in-home visit, which lasts from one hour until the child is 5 years and 10 months. He received individual one-on-one service in my presence. He received educational toys and books each week. As a parent I learned a lot of valuable ideas. First of all I was able to deal better with Daniel's behavior problems and was taught a lot of activities to do with him to increase his vocabulary. Speech therapy services were also offered to Daniel in the therapist's office in a school, sometimes in my presence. During these sessions he continued to receive one-on-one service to improve his speech and behavior problems.

At age three Daniel no longer received the Early Intervention Program. At this time he still received the home-based program and speech therapy services. I then enrolled Daniel in a preschool to continue his speech and interaction with other children and to prepare for kindergarten. Daniel's behavior problems and speech delay have improved a lot. He is now in kindergarten and continues to receive service from a speech and language pathologist twice per week.

My second child, Matthew, brought medical experiences and challenges to my life. At age 3 months he had his first cold with excessive vomiting, coughing, and high temperature. He continued to have frequent colds, and I became very concerned with his symptoms. At age 4 months I suggested to his pediatrician that he had asthma. The pediatrician insisted that it's normal for a child to have frequent colds. I was still uncomfortable with Matthew's symptoms. So I changed the pediatrician. He was immediately diagnosed with asthma. Matthew was sent home with a Nebulizer machine, albuterol, and Intel Comolyn medication.

During Matthew's asthma attacks he coughed and vomited excessively, which meant sleepless nights for us. To help him breathe better during attacks, I had to place him on my chest or place him in his car seat to sleep. As he got older he was able to sleep in his crib, with the mattress elevated. Matthews's asthma attacks have decreased, and I continue to give him the preventative medication. He is now much better and only occasionally gets an attack.

I will continue to fight for my children whenever needed.

Jennifer Francis completed the Adult Diploma Program at the Cambridge Community Learning Center in 2003. She can be reached at: JEFrancis21@aol.com.