Speechless

We brought Mia in for an early childhood developmental evaluation last Thursday. She tested OK on fine and gross motor skills, but behind the norms on speech. I had counted she was saying 5-6 words including ball without the L sound and dog without the G sound, but they told me, "Those aren't words. Those are word approximations. If a stranger on the street can't tell she is saying ball, it doesn't count." Oh, and mama and dada are never counted, either. So, according to them she is speechless. Zero words.
They are referring us to a speech therapist who will come out to the house. I'm sure Mia will catch up in no time. In the meantime, Sarah is teaching Mia and her parents more baby sign language.