Sophia's evaluation UPDATED

[heartsabroke]

Was confirmed today. Her evaluation will be on Aug 12. This is who will be present:

Early Childhood Special Education Teacher
Myself, of course
Occupational Therapist
School District Representative
School Nurse
Speech and Language Pathologist

So nervous, and excited, and everything all at once. I'm hoping to get her the help she needs now instead of later on. She's been driving me nutso lately with screaming and for the past few weeks, its been everything in the mouth. So I'm constantly chasing her around. Then when you do give her food, she doesn't swallow it. She holds it in her cheeks. I end up swiping her mouth out every evening. Its so grossy and I don't know why she's doing it.

Anyway, just in case anyone was wondering. Shouldn't be too much longer and we'll have some answers.

Also, does anyone know roughly how long it will be before we receive the results of this evaluation?

Thanks,

Lisa

****Update****

Well, it didn't work out exactly the way I wanted. The speech evaluation is now coming on Thurs. (There was conflict with scheduling) They did the cognitive portion today and she ended up scoring a 95. Average for her age ranges from 85-115. I am actually happy about that. They did say that her speech was behind so I know she'll score low there. The occupational therapist's score is not in yet. They have a whole team that just does this work. So couple more days and we'll know everything. I am excited that she scored "average". I guess, in a way, I wasn't expecting that. She can do anything, she just does not speak.

[monicag]

I dont' know specifics but wanted you to know I've been there...waiting for results, not sure if I should be happy, sad, excited or scared.
It is awesome that you are evaluating now...the right help makes all the difference (so does a very assertive mom....)
I'll be thinking of you especially on the 12th.

[wuvmyangel93]

many prayers as the testing continues.

A 95 IQ is great considering she has speech lags that can actually make her intelligence 20-30 points lower.

You can ask for a non-verbal cognitive evaluation as well to compare scores.

If you need answers on any testing just ask I plot bell curves which shows her high/low areas all the time esp. for wisc and woodcock-johnsons.

[heartsabroke]

Another update:

Sophia's eval was supposed to be completed last Friday, but they had Jaydon in the hospital so I post poned it again. HMMMMMM I wish I knew why this seemed to take so long, we're going on over a month since this started. I never knew the process would be so slow.

On the good side, she is trying to talk more. Still doesn't say much. She got really mad at Olivia (my 6 yr old dd) the other day and said very clearly, "Don't tease!" I was so happy that she said that. Wish she didn't have to put up with the sibling to make her talk, but it proves that she has the ability.

Maybe Monica or someone else might know how much longer this will take. I just want her to get caught up so badly.

Lisa

[monicag]

Whoo hooo...that is great that she said that to your daughter. It does show her ability.
Yes...the process is so slooooooow. Hurry up and wait. But they do only have a certain amount of days to get things in place once you call. (At least in Pennsylvania).
Hang in there....be persistant and assertive!!!

[heartsabroke]

Well the results from her motor skills were mixed.

Her gross motor skills were in the normal range and her fine motor skills were at 38 month level.

I don't know what to think of this. Now I'm still waiting for their official meeting and to know if she'll qualify for an IEP.

Do any of you know what happens if they say she doesn't qualify? The only area she's lacking is speech, but its such a biggee. I don't know how what they need to qualify her.

I hate not knowing.

She's going to be seeing a pediatric gastro specialist on Thurs. Totally off the wall, my mind is rambiling. She has so many tummy issues. Many, many issues. Her, Becca, and Jaydon all see him on Thurs at 1.00 cst. Jaydon is 5 months now and only 11.5 lbs. He doesn't even reach the bottom end of their growth charts. He's very tiny. I wonder is somehow Sophia's issues are connected. Her tummy problems and her speech. No clue really, just wondering.

Like, for one, she doesn't chew food. She "cheeks" it. We cannot give her anything that has to be chewed, because we end up having to sweep her mouth later on. She's been known to carry food around in her cheeks for hours.

Lisa

[wloublue]

You should be given a handbook of parent right's that will tell you the process if you don't agree.

Keep in mind that the decision is a team decision and you are part of the team, so you should feel that your input has been considered.

I'm not sure what the model is in your area. In my county, kids can qualify for special prek classes, or services from an EC teacher in a regular class, depending on age and the severity of language delay.

I teach an EC PreK class for the public school system. My students are all three. About half of them qualify only in the area of speech and language.

Given the chewing problems, I'd make sure they know about it and ask about an oral-motor. In some areas, that is an SLP issue, in others an OT issue.

[rachelandtyke]

I'm confused about the motor skills. She's 2 and her gross are normal and her fine are at a 3 year old level? I think that's pretty good, maybe I'm missing something . . .

I would suspect the food/cheek issues and speech issues are related, and it's quite possible the tummy issues tie into that. Allie has oral motor issues and so we watched her closely for speech issues. We ended up seeing an SLP to address both.

[heartsabroke]

Yes, her motor skills results really have left me wondering. I suppose it could be right, I just find it hard to believe that she's so ahead on one, and average with the other. Just seems off. I just don't know enough about this entire process to know if I should ask about more testing.

Thank you for all your help. This is turning into such a long process.

Lisa

[rachelandtyke]

Yes, there can easily be a big difference in motor skills (Allie has a big difference, too), at least she isn't behind in either, that is great!