Natalie's Strengths

I'm sorry I left it sort of negative last Friday after part 1 of Natalie's IEP...combining the stress of an IEP, a teacher who doesn't know what kind of expectations to have, and my severe back pain, I didn't give a proper report on Natalie's "present levels."

Since I'm a parent who gets to see ALL TOO OFTEN reports on Natalie's delays (which are emphasized at IEP time, to justify services), my summary to you is on all the positive things from Natalie's present levels.  We all know that she has significant delays...that's why she has so much therapy and an IEP.  Humor me while we celebrate the ways that Natalie is average or above average!

1. The psychologist administered several tests to Natalie.  The one I would like to highlight was the Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA-3).  Natalie's score on the Alphabet subtest was in the superior range:  grade equivalent 1.7.
2. The speech therapist also administered several tests.  The Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-2 assesses the production of English consonant sounds.  During this test, Natalie was asked to repeat the words after the examiner.  Natalie performed within the average range when compared to other females of her same chronological age level.
3.  Natalie's fluency appears to be adequate according to the spontaneous speech sample recorded by the speech therapist.

Hooray for average!

The other thing I am BEYOND excited about is that her physical therapist is recommending reducing therapy to only one day a week (down from two days a week).  We've been driving to therapy twice a week for more than four years (which ends up being a 2-hour event every time, with the therapy session and drive time) since the therapist stopped coming to our home because Natalie needed the equipment at the clinic.  It's such a relief to have this reduced to one time a week.  This doesn't mean that Natalie met all her goals for PT, but she has made progress, and the PT can see that other areas of her life require attention.