I received all of Ashlynn’s reports from her re-evaluation. I knew it would be hard. It’s hard to read those scores and things about your baby. However, I was also proud. So proud of how far she has come. She is the hardest working child I know. The social worker and special education teacher seem to understand her the best. They listed her strengths, which are many. They were thoughtful
“Lord woman. We need a jet airplane, a case of wine, and a few days to ourselves. We are living parallel lives.” I received this text today from a mom I have never met, but who I feel I must have known my entire life. I found her through the marvel and wonder of the internet, and in only a year’s time, I feel I know her life story….not because
I had a client recently who told me a well-meaning friend called her five year old son with apraxia “retarded.” Apparently he meant it in a “well-meaning way” asking about services, but understandably the term shocked, appalled, angered, and then saddened her. Isn’t it interesting what we all presume about a child based on nothing more than their speech? She went onto say she didn’t even correct him because at
My speech kids love using BINGO daubers! It’s great too because I can get a lot of practice repetitions in while making it fun and playing a game. Each player gets a game board. Then we roll the dice and practice saying our target words the number of times on the dice while filling up the spots on the board. Whoever fills it up first wins! You can
What’s in a number? I refused cognitive testing today at Ashlynn’s school. Despite me saying I was so sure about not doing it two months ago, I still agonized over the decision until today. Today, the psychologist and myself finally had a chance to chat. She has 20 years of experience and has been working with preschool kids exclusively. She sounded smart, thoughtful, and honest. As I ran through my
Working in the schools, I often don’t have the chance to talk to parents as much as I would like. Though there are the obligatory IEP meetings, it’s not the same as being able to see the parents every week and chat about speech therapy; or better yet, having the parents right there in the session with me. To date, I have seen a little over 20 children who have