Can You Hear the Rrrrrr?

I seem to be in a bit of a mental fog these days with just enough brain power to make it through the day but not enough left over to even read at night, though I did just start Chris Bojalian's Sandcastle Girls.  It is spring break, that brief week that renews us teachers enough to gird up and make it through spring testing.  Though I am counting the days till summer break, something huge is going on at home.

When Bella was little, she was diagnosed with Apraxia of speech/language.  We were told that she might never read or write and would maybe only be competent at verbal communication.  I know that Jack is not exactly academically driven, but to me the word "competent" was devastating.  You have all met my child and know that she does indeed talk and read and write and is more than just competent, thanks to hundreds and hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars of therapy with a pathologist named Robin Emerson.  I am not sure I have ever been as thankful for a non-family member as I am for Mrs. Emerson and her work with Bell.

Even when we switched to just using the school provided therapist at Comanche instead of the the one at the hospital, we were still making progress with all those tricky sounds.  When we moved here, most of our progress just stopped.  We gained a little because I still made Bell practice at home, but last spring I was so disheartened.  Her therapist actually said that maybe it was time for to quit, that she just was not going to get the R, CH, and SH.    We still had another therapist, but I begged the special ed director for the new one that was being hired.

And this is where God steps in.  In September, Bella started working with Miss Jessica and the first day came home home saying the SH more clearly than I have ever heard before. It was so  sudden and surprising, that I actually turned around while driving when it came our of Bell's mouth.  Then came the CH.  The  initial R followed.  Progress indeed.  However, though Bell could make these sounds in single words, she often did not consistently use them in a conversation, so we were doing a fair amount of practice (unwillingly on Bella's part) at home. And the vocalic R (think girl or far) was almost non-existent.  About two months ago, Bella suddenly started self-monitoring her speech and began talking slowly and almost over enunciating to get in the SH and CH.  Two weeks later she added the initial R.  Now she is pretty fluid with everything but the vocalic R, though it is progressing nicely.  The other sounds still sound a bit exaggerated, but every day they get a bit smoother, a bit more natural, as does the R.  Words like world are tricky, and sometimes it is still hard to distinguish between girl and gull, but they get clearer every day.  Only about once a day do I have to make Bella repeat a word.

Last week, we had our annual IEP meeting (meetings to plan the education for learning disability students).  I was dreading it.  On paper, Bella has gone from 51 % accuracy with R (September score) to 93% (February score).  Those sorts of numbers (paired with good grades and a crazy big vocabulary and high reading level) suggested that she no longer needed therapy, but they are somewhat misleading because they only reflect single words and not conversational speech.  We also were going to lose our therapist and be sent to one with a reputation for being ineffective.  But we still have God's hand in this.  We compromised at going to one day a week instead of two and Miss Jessica will continue to work with Bell next year.  The hope is that if she continues to self monitor and progress as much as she has since Christmas, after next year, she can quit therapy.

I have no idea why Bella started working so hard to speak clearly.  I know she was teased a lot at school and many kids thought she was from a foreign country.  I just don't what switch finally flipped, but one did.  I am not sure why God sent Miss Jessica to Elgin.  I am sure her role here is bigger than than making sure we are the Ruckers and not the Wuckers.  I do know this.   Every time she speaks, every time she tells me a story right now, I smile as I hear Bella clearly and confidently make those sounds I had only three months ago despaired of ever hearing.  I wish you could hear her.  It is just amazing and I am so thankful.

I am thankful for her progress, but it also reminds me of work that needed done in my own life, some things in my spiritual life that I was neglecting.  Watching her has reminded me of the gifts we are given if we are faithful to do our part.  I listen to Bella talk and see God behind her progress but I know I was supposed to learn something too.

We are getting ready to go see Jack today for a day or two of hiking the Gloss Mountains ( probably in the rain) and maybe exploring the Alabaster caverns if they reopen after yesterday's wild fires there.  It is spring break.  And we have the R.  There is so much to be thankful for this bright morning that my heart is full.