She said, she said; Time for he said

Daniel has PT, OT, and vision therapy at school. He was denied speech therapy years ago on the basis that his speech level is on par with his cognitive level. I fought it and took it downtown to the big shots, but he still only ended up with communication "services" rather than those offered by an SLP.

We had yet another evaluation by the speech therapist at his school last year that indicated he has the cognition of a rock. Her report said: "Unable to complete formal assessment. No communicative intent was observed. Point of origin may be to establish a reliable yes/no response, however,lack of awareness, intent, and motivation will make this very difficult."

Even though I knew that her report was dead wrong, and that her motivation was the consensus in Florida that any student classified as profoundly mentally handicapped is not eligible for speech/language services, it affected my motivation. I had been using YES NO cards with him, and instead of feeling inspired to prove her wrong, I lost enthusiasm. That was wrong on my part.

This week Daniel started speech and oral motor therapy in a private clinic. After only an hour with Daniel, this therapist had very concrete suggestions for decreasing the hands in the mouth habit he's acquired, and LOTS of great things to say about him.

She feels strongly that he's been underestimated. He responded to her requests appropriately, making the correct choices and identifying colors. He used head nodding for yes and no. She has high expectations for him, and says we're going to raise the bar to try and find out what's really inside of my boy.

I can't tell you how happy this makes me. Well, I can, but I don't know if you will get how excited I am by this validation. Depends on who you are. Parents of kids who are denied approriate services most likely fall into the "gets it" group.

The good news doesn't stop there, either. I got a letter from his new teacher telling me how well he's doing with the communication program she has going. In her words, "Daniel is a smart boy. Be as persistent as he is. Don't give up on him, he can do it. He may not always get the 'right' answer, but it's more important that he is actually going through the communication steps..."

Our private therapist says that Daniel has the mobility and the intelligence to do a lot more than he's doing. His new teacher agrees; now the work begins. I'm just thrilled to have people on our side for once regarding the speech/communication piece.

I think we may have turned a corner.