School District Evaluation

Today has been a big day! McKenna had her big eval by the school district to determine qualification for their early intervention preschool. The big news is- she did well! Very very well. So well that it's not looking like she'll qualify. At least that's what the 3 women who were involved in the process hinted at.

I am having lots of mixed feelings and emotions. So hopefully writing this will help me sort them out.

First of all we will not know for sure for about a month. We have a scheduled meeting at the end of April to discuss today's eval and if she qualifies, make an IEP. If she does not qualify then I guess we'll be discussing that.

They administered the PLS4 (Preschool Language Scale-4). McKenna definitely performed for them today. She sat right down at the little desk and was very focused and deliberate. After about 20 minutes they had everything they expected to have and then kept going. They ended up going to a 3 1/2 year level- so 1 year ahead- and that's where they stopped after joking she was going to test into kindergarten. They raved about her focus and concentration, how she held her pencil correctly and how controlled she was while drawing, how cute and sweet she was, how much she clearly comprehended and understood. They were impressed with her vocabulary. They did make a comment on her articulation being inconsistent. And there was a few times they did not understand her.

I made sure they knew how hard we had worked to get to this place. I told them how it's always been very clear that she is not delayed in her receptive language, but that it is the huge gap between her receptive and expressive that we are concerned about. They were extremely complementary of me. With statements like, "Wow- it is clear that you have done an amazing job with her!" and "This is what is possible with hard work and early intervention!"

I am thrilled! It was so amazing to have an eval with McKenna where the report was not negative. It was uplifting and rewarding for all of our work over the past year be recognized and praised. I had tears of joy. I also feel a lot of pride in McKenna. She works hard and is very smart!

So why mixed emotions? Well I have some concerns . . .

First Steps will drop us at the end of the summer, they do not go past age 3 years. So then we will lose Ms. T. who I respect and give her the credit for McKenna's amazing improvement over the year. Children's Mercy will only work with a child for 6 months. That's their policy. They have so many children on waiting lists and usually services are being duplicated by First Steps or a School District. You can see where I'm going with this... I'm afraid that come August McKenna will suddenly be without ANYTHING. No therapy at all.

I am not okay with that. Ms. T. is not comfortable with that either.

Some of my thoughts on the test today. It tested McKenna's ability to take that test. Yes- she did well. This child has been drilled in similar ways since last summer at least once a week and since Jan twice a week and since Feb. four times a week. 4 times a week she has been drilled in similar ways. She knows exactly what is expected of her and is eager to please, participate and do well.

She is a perfectionist. She has a set vocabulary that she has drilled over and over and those words she can say without many mistakes. She speaks slowly, deliberately and carefully. She smartly and strategically uses synonyms that sound cute and age appropriate for harder words that she would struggle to say. She did that today with great skill. I noticed- they didn't.

The women today were so impressed with her receptive and even her communication skills that I don't think they were focused on the huge gap between how smart and comprehending she is and her actual "verbal" communication skill. I'm telling you McKenna could possibly have fooled them into kindergarten on that test.

What that test did not do was put her in a real world context, every day life with no prompting, no context. What that test did not reveal is that when I have no context 90% of what McKenna says I don't understand. What that test did not show is her confusion and frustration when she tries to tell me what she's upset about or what she's excited about. That test did not show how she is completely silent when her cousin Vallery comes over to play. Cole and Vallery talk and talk and talk and she says next to nothing as she plays with them. It did not show her inconsistency, how she may be able to say, "I want cheese" and then struggle to say, "two books". Or how she may say something spontaneously very easily and then struggle when she tries again.

What was revealed is that results are relative. Yes McKenna did well, she did well when compared to a lot of the children who are delayed more globally. She even did ok verbally when compared to normal children her age. BUT you have to be 50% delayed when compared to the norm to qualify- according to the states guidelines. Now I think McKenna could possibly test as high as kindergarten "receptively" but "expressively- verbally" she's barely able to keep up with kids her age. So I think there is at least a 1 year gap if not more between her expressive and receptive. I don't know if they caught that.

Of course I will discuss all of this at the meeting in a month- especially if she does not qualify.

However if she does- I'm also concerned that there be someone there who is really experienced with Apraxia. Because otherwise I'm afraid she'd be the star pupil and not pushed beyond what is expected of someone her age when she should be ahead- verbally.

Over all though- what I have realized today is that I can stop worrying about whether or not McKenna will ultimately be successful in overcoming this. If you take what she did today and blow it up on a larger scale it showed me that she will be successful. She is already working around her problem. I know there will still be hard days and I know there is still a lot of hard work ahead of her, but I am confident she will overcome!

Also if we do not qualify for help from the school district- I *WILL* find a way to keep her in speech therapy at least twice a week. I WILL. Where there is a will there is a way! I have no doubt in my mind that it is the shear amount of help I have gotten her this past year that has made such a difference for her. Everything you read about Apraxia states that the more therapy the better. That has totally been true for McKenna. The more times a week she works the more headway she makes.

Thanks for listening/reading! (-:

Love,
Amber