gdata.io.handleScriptLoaded({"version":"1.0","encoding":"UTF-8","feed":{"xmlns":"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom","xmlns$openSearch":"http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/","xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","xmlns$georss":"http://www.georss.org/georss","xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","xmlns$blogger":"http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008","id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2522593221428423055"},"updated":{"$t":"2020-08-26T08:12:09.894-05:00"},"category":[{"term":"homeschooling"},{"term":"IEP"},{"term":"liquid watercolor art activities"},{"term":"children's books"},{"term":"siblings"},{"term":"curriculum"},{"term":"OT"},{"term":"busy book"},{"term":"Testy Shop"},{"term":"Testy Homeschool \u0026 Teacher Shop"},{"term":"crafts"},{"term":"CEU Challenge"},{"term":"review"},{"term":"cardsets"},{"term":"quiet book"},{"term":"light box"},{"term":"preschool"},{"term":"language"},{"term":"therapy"},{"term":"Michael"},{"term":"supplements"},{"term":"weeklyreview"},{"term":"daily life"},{"term":"tidbits"},{"term":"blogging"},{"term":"audiofiles"},{"term":"app"},{"term":"giveaway"},{"term":"reference"},{"term":"car ride activities"},{"term":"Apraxia"},{"term":"Ava"},{"term":"SLP"},{"term":"articulation"},{"term":"Dala"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Testy yet trying"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":"A Speech Pathologist Mother and Her Daughter Diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech"},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/2522593221428423055/posts/default/-/IEP?alt\u003djson-in-script\u0026max-results\u003d6"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/2522593221428423055/posts/default/-/IEP?alt\u003djson-in-script\u0026max-results\u003d6"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/search/label/IEP"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Dala"},"uri":{"$t":"https://www.blogger.com/profile/09390391982768152147"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"35","height":"35","src":"//lh3.googleusercontent.com/zFdxGE77vvD2w5xHy6jkVuElKv-U9_9qLkRYK8OnbDeJPtjSZ82UPq5w6hJ-SA\u003ds35"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"https://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"3"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"6"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2522593221428423055.post-665784083849418756"},"published":{"$t":"2013-01-15T05:00:00.000-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2013-01-16T07:01:14.319-06:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ava"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"IEP"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Apraxia"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Ava Speech Update - Winter 2013"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Birthdays, holidays, trips, surgeries, and reduced childcare have been conspiring to decimate my previously immaculate record of regular posting.  Bear with me please, I'm working on it. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe just had Ava's second IEP meeting.  She's come such a long way.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e(Brief review for those who aren't caught up.   \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe began almost exactly two years ago with her \u003ca href\u003d\"http://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/2011/01/this-cant-be-happening-to-her.html\"\u003eearly intervention evaluation\u003c/a\u003e.  At that time she was barely talking at all even though she was almost two years old.  Even more concerning was that she only had a few speech sounds she could make and she couldn't imitate.  She was also giving up - beginning to turn to rudimentary gestures instead of even trying to talk. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOver the next several months we started using \u003ca href\u003d\"http://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/2011/04/apraxia-therapy-communication-boards.html\"\u003ecommunication boards\u003c/a\u003e and sign language which gave her some tools to communicate and made her much happier. She began receiving services and working with me intensively at home.  We all worked hard, and we saw a great deal of progress.  She learned new sounds and started using words along with her signs.  She made the jump to two-word utterances.  Steadily we saw progress. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSix months after her initial IFSP meeting the second one was held and the team identified an additional area of need.  Ava had sensory issues that were affecting basic life skills like dressing, bathing, feeding, and socializing.  She began to receive occupational therapy in addition to her speech therapy.  She continued to make progress in both areas. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnother six months crept by as she approached the age of three where children transition from early intervention to services provided by the schools.  We needed to have her reevaluated to see if she would continue to qualify for services.  Fortunately, she did and so her first IEP meeting was held.  On her third birthday she joined a speech group using the cycles approach.  It has served her well and over the next year we have seen so much progress.)\u003c/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e At this point Ava is speaking in full sentences using age-appropriate vocabulary and morphology.  She is not at all hesitant to communicate and is usually intelligible.  She continues to exhibit many speech errors but the only ones that are age-inappropriate at this point are /k/ and /g/.  If you've been following me for a while, you'll know that we've been working on /k/ and /g/ for something like 18 months.  I am happy to report that they are finally starting to come in.  She can produce velar sounds now.  She can do it almost all the time when imitating words in medial and final position and at least 85-90% of the time when imitating initial position.  I even hear it pop in occasionally in spontaneous speech.  (Okay, very occasionally, but that is huge!)  So, finally we are on our way with the velars.  Now it is just a matter of time.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt her IEP meeting we decided that the speech group using the cycles approach was no longer the most appropriate setting for her given that she's only working on velars.  We are reducing her minutes to 30 minutes a week and she will receive those services via a traditional pull-out method.  Her therapist will pull her out of her preschool room for 15 minutes twice a week to work with her on her velars.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI know there is more to work on than the velars, but I am so much more relaxed about it.  The other sounds come in later anyway (/th/, /r/, etc.).  She's mostly intelligible.  I'm going to start homeschooling in the summer, and I think I'll sneak speech work into pre-reading phonics lessons rather than addressing it completely separately during \"speech time\".  She's really have a phonemic awareness explosion enjoying playing with syllables, beginning and ending sounds, rhyming, and alliteration and so working on the speech covertly through a related area of strength makes more sense to me.    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In summary, things are good.  Progress over the past two years has been phenomenal and I anticipate that she will continue to improve.  As I look back and remember how devastated and worried I was two years ago I wish I could travel back in time and provide a glimpse of the future.  We are fine.  Ava is fine.  It has been a lot of work, and a huge commitment.  However, even the work has often been fun.  Ava enjoys her speech therapy and the friends she makes there.   She’s been doing it so long, it is just a part of her life – no different than preschool or gymnastics.  It is just an activity for her.   I’d say the turning point is when the speech improves just enough that you can understand her most of the time.  When everyone is frustrated and in tears because you just can’t understand what they are trying to say on a daily or hourly basis, things are awful.  After that, it is so much easier.  "},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/feeds/665784083849418756/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/2013/01/ava-speech-update-winter-2013.html#comment-form","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/2522593221428423055/posts/default/665784083849418756"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/2522593221428423055/posts/default/665784083849418756"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/2013/01/ava-speech-update-winter-2013.html","title":"Ava Speech Update - Winter 2013"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Dala"},"uri":{"$t":"https://www.blogger.com/profile/09390391982768152147"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"35","height":"35","src":"//lh3.googleusercontent.com/zFdxGE77vvD2w5xHy6jkVuElKv-U9_9qLkRYK8OnbDeJPtjSZ82UPq5w6hJ-SA\u003ds35"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2522593221428423055.post-7476175229655674238"},"published":{"$t":"2012-01-11T05:13:00.003-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2012-01-11T05:13:00.082-06:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ava"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"IEP"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Apraxia"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"therapy"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"First IEP Scheduled"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Our first IEP meeting will be tomorrow morning.  My \u003ca href\u003d\"http://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/2012/01/pre-iep-preparation-thinking-through.html\" target\u003d\"_blank\"\u003eoriginal guesses\u003c/a\u003e about placement options were incorrect.  As it turns out, we are going to be served by a different school district than I expected.  Essentially, since Ava is not old enough to be enrolled in the optional preschool program in our home district, they assigned her to the school district her daycare is in.  \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe district she's being served by is larger than our home district and so is able to offer a special program for speech-only preschool children.  Essentially they have intensive 45 minute speech sessions offered from 2-4 times a week.  There are no more than 9 children in a class and there are two certified SLPs and one speech assistant.  The children are separated into three groups (high, medium, and low) and the  program is run according to a Hodson's Cycles Phonological Approach.  One target is chosen per week and worked on intensively.  Each session begins with auditory bombardment and data is taken daily.  Another placement option would be for an SLP to see her individually at daycare.  That would probably be once a week for an hour, but I could try for twice a week for 30 minutes each.  In this district, word of mouth says that they feel a special education preschool classroom is too restrictive for a speech only student, although that wouldn't be determined without a full team at the IEP meeting.  \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI like the sound of the intensive speech sessions.  I'm not sure what their criteria are for recommending two vs. four sessions a week, but I'm going to argue that Ava could certainly benefit from four sessions a week.  I think I would prefer to have her participate in that program to less time spent individually.  I feel like she would benefit from a well-organized cycles approach in addition to the intensive, individual motor-planning style therapy she's getting from me.  Logistically it is going to be challenging.  I'll be responsible for transportation which means I'll have a two hour round trip to fit into our schedule 2-4 days a week.  Even the thought of that makes me cringe, but you do what you need to do.  I can't turn down this kind of opportunity even if the logistics are difficult.  \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eSo, that's the story at the moment.  We'll see what actually happens at the meeting."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/feeds/7476175229655674238/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/2012/01/first-iep-scheduled.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/2522593221428423055/posts/default/7476175229655674238"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/2522593221428423055/posts/default/7476175229655674238"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/2012/01/first-iep-scheduled.html","title":"First IEP Scheduled"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Dala"},"uri":{"$t":"https://www.blogger.com/profile/09390391982768152147"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"35","height":"35","src":"//lh3.googleusercontent.com/zFdxGE77vvD2w5xHy6jkVuElKv-U9_9qLkRYK8OnbDeJPtjSZ82UPq5w6hJ-SA\u003ds35"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2522593221428423055.post-1470730463642447340"},"published":{"$t":"2012-01-04T05:53:00.001-06:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2012-01-04T14:52:02.073-06:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ava"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"IEP"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Apraxia"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"therapy"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Pre-IEP Preparation - Thinking Through Options"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Technically, an IEP meeting needs to be held within 30 days of the evaluation.  That means it should be take place before the 15th of this month.  On top of that, I should have at least a 10 day notice about the meeting date.  I should hear from someone this week regarding setting up the meeting.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eBefore I meet with anyone I need to figure out exactly what I want.  I can't advocate for something if I don't have the specifics worked out clearly in my mind.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI'm also in an odd position of having been on both sides of this table.  I worked as a certified SLP in the schools.  I know how busy they are.  I know that this first meeting will be the very beginning of a long relationship with people I hope to respect.  I want these people to be active partners in my daughter's education.  Ideally I want our relationship to be friendly and productive rather than adversarial.  \u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAnd so, I want to push for enough services, but I don't want to be unreasonable.  Many children with CAS need one-on-one therapy with their school therapist.  However, I know that I am working with Ava one-on-one five nights a week and we pay for private therapy with a local expert twice a month.  Also, as compared to many other children with CAS, Ava's motor planning problem is relatively mild.  I don't think I am going to push for individual therapy time.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe other service options will probably include pull-out group therapy for a specified number of minutes a week, services provided in the schools special needs preschool classroom by that room's classroom teacher, push-in services by the SLP in that preschool classroom, or some combination of some or all of those services.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThe biggest decision I need to make is whether I want her to go to the special-needs preschool classroom.  If she does not, I'd still send her to that school in the fall.  I would simply send her to the same preschool room Michael is in now.  Her SLP would be able to pull her out of that room to provide small-group therapy, but she'd receive no extra services in the room.  The advantage to this is that she'd be in the least restrictive environment surrounded by typically developing peers.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAlternately, in the special needs classroom, there would be fewer children and more adults.  The adults are trained to facilitate communication, social interaction, and sensory integration.  Ava would be enabled to participate fully rather than allowed to float around the edges.  The teachers would have the time and training to listen to her and work to understand her conversation rather than simply say, \"uh-huh\" and move on when she's difficult to understand.  At least, these are my hopes for the special-needs classroom.\u003cbr /\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eI think I'm going to try to contact the school and that teacher and see if I can take Ava into the room for an hour or so to play before the IEP meeting so I can get a sense of the dynamics of the room, the other children attending, and how Ava fits in.  I'll feel better about knowing what I want after that.  Once I know what I want, I'll be able to plan more concretely for the IEP meeting."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/feeds/1470730463642447340/comments/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/2012/01/pre-iep-preparation-thinking-through.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/2522593221428423055/posts/default/1470730463642447340"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/2522593221428423055/posts/default/1470730463642447340"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/2012/01/pre-iep-preparation-thinking-through.html","title":"Pre-IEP Preparation - Thinking Through Options"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Dala"},"uri":{"$t":"https://www.blogger.com/profile/09390391982768152147"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"35","height":"35","src":"//lh3.googleusercontent.com/zFdxGE77vvD2w5xHy6jkVuElKv-U9_9qLkRYK8OnbDeJPtjSZ82UPq5w6hJ-SA\u003ds35"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}}]}});