Natalie Update

Natalie has been making tremendous improvments over that past six months or so. She began saying a significant larger number of words and even says a few familiar phrases.  We have been so pleased with her progress especially since she recently learned her colors and shapes. She has also started identifying familiar objects which is something that we worked for over a year to accomplish. 

I was feeling so great about her progress up until I got her official evaluation by the school district today for special education.  I often forget that she turns 3 years old in a month.  I forget about what typical 3 year olds can do compared to what she is doing.  I am always so excited by the little accomplishments she makes each day that I forget about how much further she still has to go.

So, this is how it breaks down (for those of you that have been asking).  According to her report, her auditory comprehension is at 25%.  Expressive communication is at 16% and her total language is at 18%.  This was then followed with the disclaimer of, "Natalie performed well on the PLS-5, as there is a lot of visual support in the form of pictures, however, when that support is taken away, she has a difficult time functionally communicating with others.  While she got credit for following directions that were presented in the testing situation, this skill was inconsistent during informal tasks.  Natalie also has considerable difficulty generating connected speech that is original and not highly practiced."

Then comes the kicker.  Since she was inconsistent, they did a different test where they pinpointed an appropriate age at which she was performing different functions.  Keep in mind that she turns 3 years old next month (35 months at the time of this test).  Language comprehension is at a 24 month old range, language production is 21 months, and pragmatic language is at 18 months.  Ouch.

The last area of concern was in phonological patterns (how she produces the sounds of language).  She scored at "severe."  It is such a harsh word and kind of stung me a bit.  I mean, I know she is behind but the truth still hurts sometimes. 

So, after reading her report it kind of left me feeling a little low.  But, I have to keep my head up and remember all of the progress she has made and just trust that she will continue to improve in the exponential manner that she is. I for a long time never thought she would point to something in a book and label it but after months and months of working on it, she finally did.  So, she can do this too.  After all, she is not dumb by any means.  All of them were blown away with her problem solving skills which were off the charts (which we have noticed too since a very young age).  So, we know it is in there, we just have to get it out.  We like to think that she is too smart to bother with communicating with all of us dummies.  ;)

So, she will begin preschool with the special ed program after her birthday in December.  I am really excited for her.  I think it will do so much for her and can't wait to see her blossom!