speech therapy – sherylscript

Some Speech Concerns For Ryan

So what were my actual concerns about Ryan? I had questions about the testing done by the speech pathologist. What level vocabulary did she test? Same with the comprehension passage. Were these tests at Ryan’s grade level or peer level? The speech pathologist didn’t answer. Mental note to self to get answers at the IEP meeting.

Ryan had been working on comprehension and building vocabulary, which seems to have vastly improved. He had been working conversation skills as well, but these seem lacking to me. The pathologist pointed out that Ryan has enough conversation skills to get him through his classes. His grades, overall, were very good. She also told me that she was having to search for goals for Ryan. It was SO OBVIOUS that Ryan didn’t need speech anymore.

Well–reality states otherwise.

I had tried to tell her that Ryan almost failed his math class due to his lack of communication, specifically not being able to ask for help. She countered that kids tend to not do so well in higher levels of math. I responded that Ryan was always in mainstream, regular math classes. This became a verbal jousting match.

At the beginning of the school year Ryan, Mike, and I agreed to let Ryan be independent–to see if he could handle the responsibilities and communications by himself. The lack of communication with his math teacher indicated that Ryan still needs help in initiating a conversation. In this case, Ryan couldn’t ask for help because he didn’t understand where he was confused. The result was placing Ryan in a resource (special ed) math class for this coming semester. HIS LACK OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS IS HAMPERING his academic success.

On Monday Ryan and I were discussing classes for college. We searched for writing classes as that seems to be his only interest to date. He immediately changed the search criteria to include online classes only. I asked why. It took some time, but he finally said that he was scared to talk with people, that he was not ready to talk. He felt he would make mistakes, and people wouldn’t understand him. Ryan still NEEDS COMMUNICATION help.

I also thought about Ryan’s other classes. Over half of his classes were resource classes. If he didn’t require further speech services in school, shouldn’t that mean that he could handle mainstream classes as a precursor to handling life outside of school? I had grave concerns that what testing Ryan may have done in a controlled environment may not be indicative of what is reality for Ryan.

Conclusion: Ryan needs help in speech still.

Ryan Does Need Speech–Pragmatics

RING. The phone goes off. Inside of 30 seconds my day’s activity is dictated. All else fades. I didn’t take the call, but I listened to the message. It is the high school psychologist, saying that we need to make a decision because she wants to write her report this week. The IEP isn’t until next Tuesday.

I’m confused. Decisions are suppose to be made by the IEP “team”. I don’t like this being rammed down my throat. Especially since Mike and I don’t agree with the decision to stop speech services for Ryan.

I discussed with Mike what points I should include when I speak to the speech pathologist. I decided to send an email for two reasons: I want to remain calm and to ensure I don’t miss any details. Mike read the email and assured me it had the high points. Then Mike went to work. I hate doing this on my own; alas, Mama Bear kicks in. My son’s potential is at stake.

Within ten minutes of sending it, I received a phone call on my cell. It was the speech pathologist. The timing was not good as I had an appointment. She started of by saying, “Instead of reading your email, I saw that there were inaccuracies and we need to discuss this.” She just made my day! She’s NOT going to read the email. She wants to talk NOW.

I am usually a cordial person, but I refuse to discuss this hastily. I told her I’d call her back as soon as I could. She insisted that we needed to make a decision asap.

I attended my meeting, and hurried home. I called the district office to ask a simple question: do I have to make this decision before the IEP. IT was an unusual and odd for a school staff member to push for a decision BEFORE an IEP.

I spoke with the director of special ed department. I asked about making this decision. She told me how I could appropriately respond. I also relayed my concerns about Ryan still needing speech. After a quick discussion, I was armed with the correct vocabulary. I also verified that my “incorrect information” was, indeed, correct. I then called the speech pathologist, and left a message about the correct information and what Ryan’s speech needs were with the key vocabulary of “pragmatics”.

The end result was ZING. The speech pathologist acknowledged her error. She read my email and “now understands”. She also agreed with the “pragmatics” and will write her report with new goals. SUCCESS.

The above actually transpired through a few phone calls and emails throughout the entire day. I felt I kept hitting a brick wall with the speech pathologist. I needed to be persistent, patient, and grounded which required lots of prayer throughout the day. Prayers were answered.

Now we await the IEP report.

Speech Pathologist: Ryan Doesn’t Need Services Anymore (but…)

Ryan

Last Monday morning, I received a call from the local high school speech pathologist. She gave me wonderful news that she had tested Ryan on comprehension and vocabulary. He tested very high. She indicated to me that Ryan had mastered several goals, and this test verifies that Ryan does not need speech services at school.

Of course, that sounds great! A parent of a special needs child awaits a life time to hear this.

She told me that she had talked with Ryan, and he agreed that he didn’t need services. He was doing well in his classes. He could talk when he wanted. They were mutually happy with this decision. She just needed me to agree.

I didn’t.

Following my gut instinct, I just don’t think Ryan is ready. Then I started to think that maybe I’m being overprotective. I had to take time to think this through. Of course, I talked with Mike, and we debated if Ryan was ready to discontinue speech. We finally decided NO.

First, Ryan doesn’t want to do more than necessary, unless it intrigues him. So to get a chance to not work, that fine with him. Typical of autism.

Second, Ryan still has communication issues. Over Christmas break, he clearly demonstrated that he has a difficult time holding a conversation. He used his catch phrases: “I don’t know” and “I don’t remember”. He came up with a new one: “I am not sure”. Other than that, he didn’t talk much.

Third, Ryan told me that he didn’t like the speech/communication class he was in. Ryan informed me that he doesn’t want to continue this class because there is a “person who talks too much which bothers me” and a person “who has an annoying laugh”. Ryan has always had sensory issues with sound, and this could be a reason for lack of motivation in that class.

So now we need to explore what can the speech pathologist do to help Ryan if this class isn’t working. We also need to convince the speech pathologist that Ryan needs to continue with services. Not an easy feat!

After 15 Years, My Son Can Talk!

“Fowler.”

Fifteen year old Ryan received an invitation to a Christmas party about two weeks ago. He asked if he could go, and after seeing who sent it, I responded, “Sure.” He then gave me the invitation. “What am I suppose to do with this?” I inquired. He looked at me with the expression of “duh”. I informed him that I was not going to call. “If you want to go, you call.” I knew I had a few weeks before any action really had to be taken, so I was not worried about him missing the party.

The invitation positioned itself quite nicely in the middle of our fridge, beckoning me to make that call. I had to resist. Well, today WE had two VICTORIES! #1) I didn’t give in, and #2) Ryan made the call, just out of the blue. He was well spoken, concise and clear. This was his first time responding… He didn’t waste a word. Not that he ever does. The job was done. YEA!

I know that a fifteen-year-old making this phone call is an ordinary occurrence in many households. Not mine. This is the kid who wasn’t verbal until he was five, and then it was only one or two-word phrases. Doctors thought he’d never talk. I was told to accept it, deal with it, but there was certainly NOTHING I could do. I remember I heard the word “institution”. Keep in mind that these doctors were telling me this before Ryan was even diagnosed with autism.

Ryan had been born healthy, and he hit all those baby milestones early. At four months Ryan could grasp his dad’s hands and pull himself from a sitting position to a standing position. He was walking at nine months. He was able to turn on the TV and put a video in the VCR by 12 months. At the same time he said his first word: flower; well, it was, “Fowler”. He said it looking straight at a rose bush. Little did I know that Ryan would not utter that word for six more years, when he was seven.

Ryan learned “mom” and “dad” and anything that meant food. Or ball. He was all boy. A very normal boy. However, by the time he was two, I noticed he was not talking much. I mentioned it to the pediatrician who assured me that I was an overly-concerned mom. “Everyone develops at their own rate, but by the time they’re five, they’re all the same.” The doc was wrong.

Ryan had 31 “words” by the time he was four. I still have the list. Over half of those “words” were utterances that we could decipher. The other half was torture for both parents and child. If we could not figure out what he wanted within 30 seconds or so, the tantrums began. Screaming. Running. Crying. All uncontrollable. If I were home alone, I didn’t have much time before I joined the crying. How could I not know what he wanted? I’m his mom. I was a frustrated, frantic, anxious mom. Worst of all, I was helpless. I could not give my baby what he wanted or needed. Tragic. He was my third child; I certainly should have had enough experience. I didn’t.

I remember being at the store one time, and Ryan “said” something to the clerk. He asked me what Ryan had said. I looked at the clerk blankly, and replied, “I heard what you heard.” He looked at me in dismay. That look accused me. How could I not know? Why? Because I was this baby’s mom. Yeah, no pressure.

Fast forward through years of tests, doctors, hearing tests, and the problem was “in my head”, but a mom knows when something is wrong with her child. Looking back now, I think some doctors “diagnosed” him with something, just to shut me up. He’d been diagnosed with many different things, and through my research, I found that all those “things” combined could indicate autism. I knew this only because six months prior to Ryan’s diagnosis, Ryan’s younger brother was diagnosed with autism, and I was learning all about it. Autism. Ryan was finally diagnosed at age seven with autism. I grieved. At the same time that Ryan was diagnosed, his littlest brother was also diagnosed. I grieved for three boys. Autism had no cure.

Years of speech therapy loomed in Ryan’s future. He had to learn how to make sounds, blend sounds, form words, all leading up to talking in phrases. Then sentences. Then… So now, at age 15, he is comfortable enough with words to be able to RSVP to a party. High five! This definitely is a success story! He’s slowly conquering that autism. Or maybe there’s a pretty girl with a flower…

The photo of the “fowler” belongs to photogirl7