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Working with the Early Intervention program in our city has been a good experience for the most part. Yes, there is a lot of paperwork to sign and bureaucracy to deal with, but we have been pleased with the speech therapy Ella has gotten.
However, yesterday I had second thoughts about continuing with them. Once a year the state dictates that each child must be evaluated to see if they still qualify to be in their program. Stupid me thought they would evaluate her speech and be gone.
For two and a half hours two women sat in my house, presented Ella will several tasks to fulfill (almost all of them fine motor) and then spent most of the time filling out reams of paperwork. Maybe three minutes of that time focused on her speech.
Ella, bless her heart was very pleasant to these total strangers and spent the first few minutes showing them her toys and books. Then they started pulling things out of their huge bags and presenting Ella with tasks that were not age appropriate.
This is when I started losing it. At one point Ella was shown a circle and a square and expected to replicate them with a crayon. They were not remotely interested in the fact that she recognized these shapes and actually can point out all the basic shapes when asked (pretty good for a twenty month old I might add). I was so shocked I had to question this test on a twenty month old toddler. That is when they remembered to tell me that this is a test for children up to thirty-six months. Hello?
After watching this shameful excuse for assessing the development of a twenty month old, I started to get irritated as they filled out the paperwork and I would hear remarks such as, “well, she couldn’t do that.” Yes, intellectually I knew that most three year olds wouldn’t be able to do a lot of the things they were testing her for, but emotionally I was shaken.
Having studied education, among other things, I’m quite aware of what is termed normal development in children. Besides her speech being delayed, Ella is a clever, active and developmentally on target child. Yet, here I was letting these people give my child an unreasonable test and then getting upset about it. I guess I wanted her to be given a fair chance to show that she was just fine.
I realize that with Ella not being my biological child, I feel that I can’t lean back on the old, “her brothers didn’t do that at that age either.” Like many adopted children she came with an “empty bag” as far as birth family history. If anyone in her birth family had difficulties in certain areas of development, we’ll probably never know. This scares me on many levels and also makes me feel very protective towards Ella. I don’t want anyone to assume she has problems because she is adopted, yet I know that I need to keep my eyes open to any difficulties that arise.
Ella will wave to visitors or blow them kisses when they leave if she has enjoyed their company. When the two women from Early Intervention left she gave both of them her “drop dead” look. I wonder what score they gave her for that…
As one who works in Early Intervention I can only say it is a total beauracracy run on paperwork and norms. It stinks, I know, but usually once you get down to just dealing with the speech therapist, things settle into a flow pretty well. Two and a half hours is a bit on the ridiculous side, though. Not to mention duplicating shapes on paper for a twenty month old. Maybe she scored so well they ended up in the higher ranges without reaching a “ceiling” (children have to get a certain number wrong in a row, usually three or five, before testing stops). I’ve been with kids who have splinter skills up to two or three grades above their age level and so the testing goes on and on and on and on and it’s just all so stupid. But, that’s what comes from requiring “standardization” of testing and qualifying.
Crazy, huh?
I also work with Early Intervention and it sounds like these women did not have any tact. I know that you are supposed to have them try a few things out of their age/development range but not more than that. Maybe different states have different guidlines but I am sorry that you had to deal with that. Good for you for being protective of your daughter! I wish these people had been more sensitive to that.
Thanks for your comments, and since both of you are in EI, you’ve helped.
We do like her speech therapist and our coordinator is a gem.
L.
She’s smart AND she’s adorable. Those pigtails!!!!
Perfecting a “drop dead” look is an important developmental step for anyone, too. Good girl, Ella!
lisa,
Ella is so young — many guatemalan children, as well as birth children don’t speak fluently until the age of 2 or 3 … our children adopted as toddlers were all much slower to pick up language. Naomi, adopted at age 3 mos became fluent at about 2 yrs or so……. Ella will pick it up… give it some time. I am sure with all your love and attention this girl will blossom!
Hugs,
gloria
as usual a great well written and thought provoking post
from a Guatemama whose 19 month old could NOT replicate those shapes either but who is a FABULOUS kisser&giggler!
*eyeroll*