Shane's Speech Appointment

The person from the county did an informal assessment of Shane a couple of weeks back. She was very friendly, and gave us a large binder full of Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) paperwork. A lot of it was similar to the IEPs I do for a living, but made much more reader friendly. It's almost as if the county doesn't want to scare away anyone looking for an early intervention, but by the time they hit elementary school it changes to look more legal, scary, and a combination of "we-know-what-we're-doing," "this-is-too-complicated-for-you-to-learn-it-all," and "Please-don't-sue!"

I digress.

The woman was very kind and knowledgeable. She gave us a lot of information to digest before starting the informal assessment. Basically, she asked lots of questions while watching Shane run around. Sometimes, she'd ask for us to have Shane demonstrate something. I got the feeling she was assessing us as much as she was assessing Shane, but she did a good job of doing it on the sly. It's very easy to be self-conscious when someone's evaluating your child and your parenting and you already know she's assessing a problem and not some new-fangled super parenting trick you've cooked up.

Thankfully, she also gave some really good advice. She suggested we wait longer and provide more silence after asking Shane to do a task. The first time we did it, he stood around for a pregnant pause, and then did what we asked! Of course, it hasn't worked all of the time since, but a success on the first try guarantees that we took the county evaluator's suggestions very seriously.

Next, she told us that we should try to play more turn-based games with Shane. The idea was to emphasize "My turn" and "Your turn." She told us that turn taking was a necessary component for imitating speech. First one person makes the noise. Then the other person imitates it. Since Shane was having trouble with his speech, she said it would help us to reinforce turn taking in games so that it would help him with learning words later.

We were very happy with the visit.

The next step is the full-assessment. Next Tuesday, Shane will undergo a battery of tests to isolate where and how he qualifies for services and what services the county will provide. There is a copay with everything through insurance, but even if there wasn't I would pay what I could to make sure Shane gets what he needs.

I don't really remember much of my own speech impediment, but there are plenty of stories. I want Shane to end up in the same boat. One day, I hope he'll remember he had an impediment and have empathy for those with similar problems, but be free and clear himself. If he's not, then at least he'll have the best chance to be adapted for it by having the help he needs as early as possible.

I'll post more after the full assessment.