Reports

Yesterday was Leah’s first speech therapy session.

It went very well.

During physical therapy, about an hour earlier, she was full of energy and chatting up a storm.

During speech… she was quiet.

Figures.

Even with her timidness though, her therapist was quite impressed.

It was very reassuring to see the surprised look, on her new therapist’s face, when Leah would do a certain “skill”.

She wasn’t expecting Leah.

She was expecting a baby with a 3-6 month skill level.

This is why those dumb evaluations are so dumb.

The therapists must show a need for services so they have a job.

Sometimes skills are left out or deemphasized from the reports, just to show the need.

I know for a fact that since Leah has been in Early Intervention (during her initial intake and her first IFSP) her level of need has been classified as moderate, even though she has continued to stay on track, with her typically developing peers, since birth.

For all intents and purposes you can say Leah is a “typically developing” baby.

But she still gets services, and those services are increasing.

OK, so sometimes therapists don’t just show a need for services just to keep their
jobs. I know Leah’s therapists don’t.

They exaggerate her need, so she continues to get services, because the therapists are teaching me how to teach Leah. They are helping me to keep her on track. When she starts to show a delay, we work on new things to get her back in the right direction. There have been a million times I have been shown new tricks to help Leah “get it,” (and so they are able to work with the cutest kid and most fantastic family in Western NY ;)).

And so they have a job.

I am forever grateful for Leah’s therapists. If I hand-picked them, I would’ve picked the ones we have. We are very blessed.

Because of our hard work, if they put her skills at age level on the reports, Leah wouldn’t show a need for them anymore and they would be gone.

But then there are those reports that just don’t make sense. It doesn’t seem like they were looking at the same kid.

Now, to be completely honest, I did leave out a few things when the original speech therapist did her evaluation.

For example when she asked if Leah responds to, “NO,” I said no.

Leah responds to, “aaat, aaat, aaat.” But I left that out.

And I did it so she would qualify.

But the therapist did make her evaluation based on her observation as well as my information.

She did leave out a few things I told her.

She happened to not see some of the things Leah did or said.

She was more focused on telling me about every child she has ever met with Down syndrome and how “happy, loving, and cute,” they were. How blessed we are to have her. How she will surprise us. How…

You get the point.

I do appreciate all of these kind words, but when you’ve heard them about a zillion times, you just let the people say them so they feel better about it all. It’s like they need to say these things to confirm to themselves how great Down syndrome is. I know they are being reassuring and are doing what they think they can to help. I really don’t mind, but I kinda just go blank when I hear the niceties, none-the-less.

I digress…

She was more focused on comforting me then evaluating Leah. She knew there would be a need. She made it as apparent as she could so Leah would get whatever services I want her to get.

I guess I appreciate that, but the report was REALLY tough to read.

That’s the problem I have with the reports.

When it is your kid being reported on, you don’t want to see that he/she is severely delayed, even if it is for good reason.

No report is going to say that a child no longer needs services, when your child has Down syndrome, because it’s one of those diagnosis’s which automatically qualify.

So why do they even bother?

It’s all just a bunch of bureaucratic mess.

But how many parents have been in tears over the reports?

How many parents have felt like they were punched in the gut when they read the reports?

How many parents spend countless hours preparing for IFSP’s or EIP’s to show that their child needs this service or doesn’t need that one?

Luckily, we live in NY and our children here have every service available to them, at every convenience possible, by some of the best therapists in the country.

I couldn’t imagine having to fight for Leah to get a service that the government/school district didn’t think she needed. Well, I can imagine it, but I don’t want to have to do it (sorry honey, no moves down south, or out west any time soon ;)).

I guess then you would want the reports to show as much of a need as they can.

And maybe then being “severely delayed,” wouldn’t matter so much.

No, I’m sure even then, that label would ping the heart.

I wish reports didn’t matter so much.

I wish I could just tell the therapists what services Leah needs.

I wish Leah didn’t need services at all.

I wish…

Dumb reports.