Speech Evaluation and the Snake at School

We took one of the major preparatory steps for more speech therapy this week. Whitney had a two hour evaluation with her new speech therapist. During that time Whit showed off her improving listening comprehension skills by following instructions. She was also very cooperative considering how long the evaluation lasted. Whitney continues to mimic sounds she hears, including speech and we're excited for her to get more help in actually expressing herself verbally. Now that the evaluation's done, Melanie and I are trying to set up a schedule where Whit will go for a speech therapy session every other week. Then in between, we'll work with her on the concepts that are introduced. Melanie was very impressed with the new therapist. She seemed confident and full of ideas on how to help little Whit express herself verbally

Speaking of expressing herself, Whitney practically tackled me at the door last night when I got home from work. She was verbalizing excitedly and signing frantically to me about something. But she was using a sign I hadn't seen her make before. She followed me into the house as I put my stuff down, repeating the sign over and over. Finally Melanie explained to me what Whit was saying. One of Whitney's teachers brought her pet snake to school to show the children that day. Whitney had been excitedly signing snake to tell me about the experience she had at school.

Seeing a fun opportunity to talk, I asked Whitney if she saw its tongue go in and out and if she got to pet it. She told me "yes" and "no" as I asked her about the experience. I really enjoy it when Whitney shares her experiences with me. It provides such a great window into her life that I don't get as regularly as I'd like. Needless to say, I'm very excited about some more progress on speech so the next time Whit has a "snake at school" experience I can learn even more about it.