So, Nolan's SLP tested him AGAIN with the PLS-4. This time, he came out ahead with expressive langauge (he babbles with four consonants and that puts him at an 8 month old level) and a bit "behind" with receptive language (because he won't interrupt an activity when his name is called and doesn't understand the word "no"- this puts him at a six month old level).
She gave me the scores today and wanted to reduce his sessions to twice per month. Haven't we been here before?? I told her I wasn't comfortable with that, and she suggested once per week for monitoring purposes. Since Matt sees her twice per week, she'd be here for him, anyway.
I called our EI coordinator and asked her about switching Nolan to a Speech Language Pathologist who has worked with deaf and hard of hearing kids before. I obtained her name from our local audiologist, who has been very supportive of us. The EI coordinator surprised me and said there is a new TOD who works with Buffalo Hearing and Speech Center, and the TOD might be available. If the TOD is available and able to come this far, we'll take her! If not, we'll switch to the SLP who was recommended by the audiologist.
Either way, I won't be left constantly fighting for Nolan to retain services, and I won't have to worry about a SLP who really isn't familiar with the needs of deaf and hard of hearing kids. Granted, Nolan's loss is moderate and not severe or profound, but reducing services before he is really talking seems premature. Matt, my HEARING kid, babbled just fine at seven/eight months of age. He quit babbling at 15 months and didn't start talking again until after he turned two! I'm a little "on edge" when it comes to losing services, since my hearing kid doesn't talk all that well! Sheesh.
Off to get some tea and a bagel. And some Advil (from banging my head against the wall)....
6 comments:
Wow, good for you for finding a couple of alternatives. I'm so amazed by the fighting spirit that so many of us have when it comes to advocating for our youngsters, you in particular. Way to go mama.
I'm w/you, I wouldn't settle for anything less than someone who WORKS W/KIDS W/HEARING LOSS. Such as a TOD or SLP for the DHH kids.
Don't bang your head, a wise tongue will put you farther ahead and won't give you a headache. Keep up the good work...the more you know the more he gets.
you're a smart mama
That is very frustrating! I hope you get it worked out soon.
I'm still waiting for the call from our EI coordinator. Our SLP admitted she's just not quite sure what else to do with him. She's still working with him and I'm doing the John Tracy course, so he's being taken care of in the interim. If our coordinator doesn't call by the end of this week, I'm giving her a call on Monday to check on things.
I think you should try and find the right person to work with you and your family. We have a regular speech therapist and she is wonderful. A mild or moderate hearing loss, while hearing aids does help and early intervention does wonders, is still a hearing loss. It seems like your speech therapist doesn't get this.
Just this week, our speech therapist reminded me of this.
Luca is doing wonderful, however, sometimes you forget that he's hard of hearing b/c he is babbling and responding to sounds. Still, our therapist said he is at a 6-8 month level for speaking and he's almost 11 months. Luca didn't get his hearing aids until 6 months, so he's a bit behind.
Keeping Nolan on track is so important.
I swear, I don't know how you deal with all of this. I would be using every curse word in the book....good for you for being so diligent and being such a great advocate. You are doing an amazing job!
Post a Comment