We have been struggling to get additional speech services for Eisley from the school. As I reached out to my group of DS Moms, they all seem to struggle in the same area.
I really wonder at this point what schools have for overall goals for kids. Are they stuck back a few decades thinking they just need to get them through the system for the next 21 years? Do they not see the potential that hides inside?
In the end, I want the same things for Eisley that I want for all my kids - to love God and be happy, the rest will fall into place. Since our first appointment our pediatrician has been reminding me not to set any limits on Eisley's capabilities. She may be a cheerleader like her big sis, she might love to read like her brother, maybe swim like Lexi and even go to college (hopefully like all her siblings!).
It seems to me that being able to carry on an intelligible conversation is a crucial part of fitting in with society. I've even met several people who were illiterate, but I had no idea because they spoke in an educated manner. So why can the schools not see the importance of this? I've heard time and again that SLP's are limited. How about reallocating some resources and fixing the problem?
I really hate to add yet another weekly appointment to our calendar. It's important to have a bit of time to just be kids and mommy. For now Eisley will go to MMI for preschool 1 day/week. She just started at Little Leaf Preschool & Daycare while I work 2 days each week. They are quite heavily language based and really want to help the kids succeed. We have the DinoCave Kids DVD set that will be coming back out and I'm going to look into some other programs to incorporate at home. Sean is busy rounding up some research articles to show our school team how and why early intervention with speech is so vital.
I forgot to mention the amazing things Eisley is doing to show us how much she does understand. She has been a Daddy's girl lately - asks about him all the time. This morning he was getting ready to leave and she hollered Dada to get his attention, waved bye, points to herself and signs please - aka "Hey Dad you need to tell me bye". Tonight I asked if she wanted to call Daddy after she was asking for him. She immediately faked a phone on her shoulder and said "daddy, hi."
I want to jump on this language explosion, make sure we are pointing her in the right direction and growing while she is ready. I certainly don't want to let things lie stagnant and have her quit trying because no one can understand her.
This little girl has lots of words inside, we just need to help them come out!
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