I've talked to the EI coordinator and to a speech pathologist at the center where Nolan has his hearing checked- they both have said that he cannot be "graduated" from early intervention because he has a permanent condition with a high risk of causing a developmental delay. Basically, our SLP can test him until the cows come home - even if Nolan gave a dissertation on the works of Sophocles, he still qualifies.
The SLP at our hearing and speech center stated that all babies (deaf/hh and hearing kids) are similar until sometime AFTER six or seven months of age. A language delay is often not noted until the children are between 12-18 months of age, so six months is EXTREMELY premature to pull the plug on services. She is sending me an informational packet to share with our current speech therapist.
I can relax and get my panties out of the knot they are currently in. Now I just need to work on my next project: finding a teacher of the deaf (TOD) willing to work with early intervention in Chautauqua County. When we revisit Nolan's goals, the request for a TOD will definitely be in the wish list.
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