Reply to Speech delay recovery – positive stories?

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "Speech delay recovery – positive stories?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]NP here. When I was very young, I didn't talk. I was in a special preschool for speech and I continued to receive special education services into first grade. I also received speech therapy throughout elementary school. However, in kindergarten I taught myself to read (in a school system that didn't start to teach letter sounds until first grade). I eventually graduated in the top 3% of my HS class and received several full-scholarship offers to private colleges. For spending money in college, I worked a commission sales job at a high-end clothing store. My chosen career requires me to speak and write daily.

Back in elementary school, I was bored in the pull-out special ed. I was reading and the other children in my group were not. At the time, I didn't understand why I was there. Toward the end of elementary school, the speech therapist at my school gave up on me and told me I would not longer receive speech therapy because I would never accomplish the goal they had for me (pronouncing a certain letter). Those words have always stuck with me. (And, yes, I eventually accomplished that goal, all on my own, when I dropped my regional accent. In my region, that letter was rarely pronounced, so there was little reason to say it. When I went to college away from home I magically was able to pronounce it. Take that, mean speech therapist!)

The point is, it's a road. It's not necessarily a long road, but it might not be short. When your daughter speaks, listen to her. If she's unhappy with her program or a therapist isn't kind to her, she might have a reason for it. If she's bored, it may be that she's being grouped with children who cannot follow simple directions and she can follow complex, multi-step directions. Make sure the environment she is nuturing, encouraging, and helpful.

If her receptive language skills are on-target, she may be just like I was at that age. Quiet, shy, and listening. She will very likely blossom one day and you may find yourself complaining that she never shuts up!

Good luck to your daughter and your entire family. I know this is really tough, but together, you'll get through it.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics