My dearest Ashlynn, Your courage amazes me daily. It inspires me and pushes me beyond any limit real or imagined. Today was your first day of 3rd grade. You have been waiting for this day since the last day of 2nd grade. Actually, quite possibly since the first day of 2nd grade when you told me,“After 2nd grade you I will be in 3rd grade!” I emphatically responded, “We need
This year as you talk to you children about their new teacher, new classroom, and new adventures, I beg you to talk to your kids about being kind. I beg you to explain to your child that children with disabilities are just like them, but it might take a little longer to understand or get to know them. If nothing else though, please just teach your children to be kind. Maybe ask about something they did that was kind alongside your questions of who they played with or what they learned.
Executive functioning (EF) deficits are a common comorbidity with a variety of conditions including: ADHD, OCD, ID and others just to name a few.
Visuals are AMAZINGLY helpful for children with EF dysfunction. The problem is, most teaching involves auditory input. The teacher (or parent) talks, children listen, and learning takes place. For kids like my daughter, who have a language processing impairment, the teacher (or parent) talking is basically the equivalent to the teacher in the Peanuts comic series. All the children hear are “wah wah, wah wah wah wah.”
What I learned today was our kids with apraxia are going to be okay. Empowering them with knowledge and giving them a platform to educate and be their true authentic selves is going to be the winning formula. Beyond resolving or not resolving, having residual effects or not, empowering our kids with knowledge and then giving them the opportunity to educate is going to change the world. It really is, and I know our kids may struggle in school, but they are going to win in LIFE.
The challenge today for apraxia awareness month was to recognize a teacher making a difference.
Speech therapy is predominately speech and language therapy, but the counseling aspect I believe is significantly underscored.