I took Katie to her speech evaluation today. I had been told earlier that the school would take her for their summer program based on my recommendation alone and that the evaluation was cursory.
What we found out today is that they don’t think she needs therapy at this time. The sounds she struggles with aren’t supposed to cause concern unless they fail to emerge later (one at 6, one at 8). I had a feeling this was going to be the case. When you ask her pointed questions, “What is this? Point to that card and name _______” she can do it. She can articulate very well in that context. It is conversationally that I have trouble understanding her and conversationally speaking, her trouble didn’t translate in the evaluator’s office today.
I should be glad for this, right? Her speech is within normal parameters. We don’t have to shell out $400 this summer for therapy like we thought we were going to have to do. So why was I discouraged by the news? Because I want her to have an edge, I guess. Because I want her to have those sounds down now, not at 6 or 8. Because I’m twisted.
It’s like taking your kid to the doctor because *you know* she has a problem, but the second you walk in the door the fever drops, her cheeks are no longer red, and she’s the perfect model of health. You feel dumb for taking her in, yet there was a reason you did so. Making the call is the cure in most cases, it seems.
That happened today, though I’m not convinced. I’m glad for the evaluation, though, because I know for sure what the trouble spots are now. There were some, they just weren’t worried about them at her current age. Now that I know, I will have a better gauge for helping her myself, which, after all, is what I do for my kids as their primary teacher anyway. I feel like I have something to go on now and you better believe I will be working with her on those sounds before she gets to be 8.
Still, I can’t help wishing her scores had been just a tad bit lower so she could have entered the program. Maybe I just wanted to feel justified for taking her in in the first place…
Half-Pint House 
I so feel your pain. Our son will be three in a month, and my whole family has got me worried sick about his speech. Or non-speech, I should say. I probably need to take him to a specialist, but I am scared. Nice. I’m so selfish about my feelings of inadequacy that I won’t do what’s best for my child. Can I get my Mother of the Year Award now, please?
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let’s face it, it would be nice to have some help with those weak speech areas right now. i know i’m big on prevention. why wait until the child is 6 to fix a problem if you can nip it in the bud when they are 4? and how do we know the therapist was really good? etc. etc. instead of the extra help, you will have to add the speech therapist job to your many other ones. of course it is disappointing in a way, but it is also good to know she isn’t worse…sort of:)
if you were living in a third world country, you realize this wouldn’t even be an issue don’t you? it probably doesn’t help, but it is an added piece of information. m
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let’s face it, it would be nice to have some help with those weak speech areas right now. i know i’m big on prevention. why wait until the child is 6 to fix a problem if you can nip it in the bud when they are 4? and how do we know the therapist was really good? etc. etc. instead of the extra help, you will have to add the speech therapist job to your many other ones. of course it is disappointing in a way, but it is also good to know she isn’t worse…sort of:)
if you were living in a third world country, you realize this wouldn’t even be an issue don’t you? it probably doesn’t help, but it is an added piece of information. m
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Do the public schools offer speech therapy? Our school district is required to offer speech therapy to everyone, even homeschooled and private schooled kids. Maybe you could call in the fall.
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Martha, of course! Craig sent me this link yesterday and in light of that, nothing we worry about really matters one bit, does it? That is just so sad and I’ve been thinking of it all day wondering what my response is even supposed to be??
Chelsea – SSD (the special school district) of our area does provide free services, but I tried there first and got my feet stuck in their red tape. That’s the route we went for her therapy last year and it was a smoother process then, but then Carrie wasn’t school age, so we by-passed the system at that time. Now that she’s at the age where she would enter K in the fall, there is an unbelievable amount of stuff to fill out on her behalf because we homeschool. I did it too and then called the requisite numbers to get her vision and hearing checked. The number for the hearing never called me back.
I know that if we made it in the door there for an eval that they would say the same thing. The University people were actually the ones who said that the public school wouldn’t take on those sounds until after 6 or 8, but that they wouldn’t go past 6 on either of them, so to bring her back to the clinic next year if she doesn’t improve.
It was certainly a fair assessment, I was just hoping for something a tiny bit more aggressive. As Martha said, I’ll simply add speech therapy to my list of things to do with her on my own. I do appreciate knowing where to start, though – I wouldn’t have known without the eval.
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Martha, of course! Craig sent me this link yesterday and in light of that, nothing we worry about really matters one bit, does it? That is just so sad and I’ve been thinking of it all day wondering what my response is even supposed to be??
Chelsea – SSD (the special school district) of our area does provide free services, but I tried there first and got my feet stuck in their red tape. That’s the route we went for her therapy last year and it was a smoother process then, but then Carrie wasn’t school age, so we by-passed the system at that time. Now that she’s at the age where she would enter K in the fall, there is an unbelievable amount of stuff to fill out on her behalf because we homeschool. I did it too and then called the requisite numbers to get her vision and hearing checked. The number for the hearing never called me back.
I know that if we made it in the door there for an eval that they would say the same thing. The University people were actually the ones who said that the public school wouldn’t take on those sounds until after 6 or 8, but that they wouldn’t go past 6 on either of them, so to bring her back to the clinic next year if she doesn’t improve.
It was certainly a fair assessment, I was just hoping for something a tiny bit more aggressive. As Martha said, I’ll simply add speech therapy to my list of things to do with her on my own. I do appreciate knowing where to start, though – I wouldn’t have known without the eval.
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I did not know other people also experienced the amazing phenomena of a sick child being healed instantly upon walking through the doctor’s doors. Happens with us all the time – and I try to wait until they are really very sick before taking them in. We pay a 25 dollar copay for the doctor to look at us like we are nuts.
As far as her speech – why don’t you get a second opinion? I am convinced Duncan has a hearing problem that his ENT doctor thinks does not exist. The next time I see an ad for free hearing screenings, we’re there!
Remember, you’re the mom, and you know best. God gives you instinct for a reason. Like I need to tell you that!
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I did not know other people also experienced the amazing phenomena of a sick child being healed instantly upon walking through the doctor’s doors. Happens with us all the time – and I try to wait until they are really very sick before taking them in. We pay a 25 dollar copay for the doctor to look at us like we are nuts.
As far as her speech – why don’t you get a second opinion? I am convinced Duncan has a hearing problem that his ENT doctor thinks does not exist. The next time I see an ad for free hearing screenings, we’re there!
Remember, you’re the mom, and you know best. God gives you instinct for a reason. Like I need to tell you that!
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I have a little girl with down syndrome who is the light of our lives. She has been in speech for most of her life (all but 4 weeks of it) We not only receive it in the school district, but also privately, occupational and speech. We baby step forward, but only inch by inch. We want to help give our daughter a voice, and not only the down syndrome but the apraxia (speech diagnosis) stands in our way. Please don’t worry about her having an edge. Count your blessings-I wish our daughter could do the things your daughter is doing, so don’t sweat it but at the same time, mom’s do know best-don’t worry but don’t let any doctors tell you what you feel, doctors opinions are not as accurate as mothers intuition!
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I have a little girl with down syndrome who is the light of our lives. She has been in speech for most of her life (all but 4 weeks of it) We not only receive it in the school district, but also privately, occupational and speech. We baby step forward, but only inch by inch. We want to help give our daughter a voice, and not only the down syndrome but the apraxia (speech diagnosis) stands in our way. Please don’t worry about her having an edge. Count your blessings-I wish our daughter could do the things your daughter is doing, so don’t sweat it but at the same time, mom’s do know best-don’t worry but don’t let any doctors tell you what you feel, doctors opinions are not as accurate as mothers intuition!
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