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| My fashionista Ava, on her way to school |
It's been a few months since Ava started her speech therapy and early intervention school session once a week. She got off to a slow start on her therapy appointments, barely acknowledging the SLP (speech language therapist) for the first month or so. Ava being so shy around strangers really doesn't help in these situations at all. After Ava started opening up a little, the SLP admitted that her early diagnosis wouldn't have been favorable, something about social mutism. Now that she can see what Ava really can do, the SLP has given me some good tips to use at home to encourage speech. It's really about training the care takers than it is about the 45 minute session once a week. I'm still on the fence about how helpful these sessions are, now that I kind of have the understanding on how to work with Ava. Because her motor skills and cognition are so great, it's hard to understand and frustrating as to why Ava isn't able to take off with speech. The great news is that although it may take her longer to catch up, it's almost guaranteed that she will be caught up by grade school age. And really, that's what is important in the long run. Now that I know what to look for, there are tons of iPad applications that make learning this stuff fun, and Ava is a mad genius with the iPad. She could spend hours building puzzles and words, playing matching and search games. It's pretty awesome stuff watching how fast she can manipulate the games.
The early intervention school class Ava attends once a week is amazing. This is to help Ava socialize around children her age, in addition to getting some extra speech therapy and occupational therapy. The student teacher ratio is really 1:1, which if you have ever been in an early childhood eduction setting, is spectacular. She loves it there. The room has all kinds of fun gym stuff, rotating art and texture stations, circle time, and snack. My jaw dropped when I had walked in the first time. And for some reason, Ava isn't nearly as shy in this setting. She had an immediate rapport with the teacher, who also does monthly home visits. The children that attend the class have a broad range of special needs, and although I just observe, I think Ava is probably borderline even meeting the criteria to be there at all, so I will take advantage of this special little gem we have until she graduates, which is usually at age 3.
Ava won't get an official progress report until she has been in the program for 6 months. I feel she has already improved by leaps and bounds. The question still remains for me whether she is improving simply by age or because of these services. If I'd have to guess, I'd say a little of both. And to be honest, as long as she is progressing, all is good with me!
