Stag Speech

It all started when Lucas was at the doctor for a checkup. The pediatrician asked me how many words he was saying. I had to really think. Lucas was only two and a half. Why does she want to know? "Twenty. Or maybe twenty five?" I responded. "Hmm," she said. "He should be saying 200 words at this age." That's when our speech journey began.

His first speech therapist was a pretty lady named Karen. She spoke to him softly and blew bubbles during their sessions trying to get him to say the word "Pop"... or at least the "P" sound at the beginning and end of the word. He loved that. It was play-based speech therapy and the focus was sound production. Lucas was still pointing and grunting at this point. His appointments were twice weekly for 45 minute sessions. Now that I think back, Lucas worked pretty hard during his sessions mimicking Karen making "Ga, Ga, Ga" and "Da, Da, Da" sounds. And I worked pretty hard at driving him 45 minutes to his appointments in the middle of the day.

When Lucas turned 3, his case was transferred to the SF Unified School District. He had to go through one of the district's preschools to receive speech therapy. That's when we met Diane. She was an older lady with a "get-down-to-business" attitude. Along with speech therapy, Diane also taught Lucas the beginnings of letter formation and phonics.

Transferring to the Unified School district was also the start of Lucas' IEP (Individualized Education Program). It is a legal document drawn up by the special education department after an assessment of the child has been made. Lucas was tested verbally, visually, and using his motor skills.

The IEP should describe how the student learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning and what teachers and service providers will do to help the student learn more effectively. The wording on this document is enough to make a parent wonder if her child will be ok.

"Lucas will repond to commands containing regular past tense verbs... using simple sequencing cards with an 80% target achievement. Lucas will follow two-part related and unrelated directions that use concepts with 35% achievement."

How these people know whether Lucas has reached "target achievement" is lost on me. Being his Mom, I couldn't even tell you with certainty that Lucas can "answer who, what, when, and where questions in context during structured activity."

Nevertheless, I plugged ahead, diligently driving him to his speech sessions. John worked on his comprehension with Brain Quest books and activities. Our hopes and dreams for a college scholarship were fading fast. Oh well, better start saving money now...

(to be continued)