I was able to conference with Adeline's developmental classroom teachers a month or so ago. This classroom consists of children with delays in a variety of areas. Some have a diagnosis, some require much more support than Adeline, and some children are ahead of Adeline. All children are there because a mainstream classroom is not the best fit on a full time basis.
Adeline's conference seems like ages ago. Truthfully, it almost time for another one. Most teachers would feel that this extreme frequency would be redundant, but not Adeline's. The overriding theme of her conference was PROGRESS at a fairly fast pace. I was sure they were just finishing the getting to know Adeline and her needs portion of the school year when I went in to meet with the teachers. I should add that Adeline has a head teacher, two support teachers, an OT, PT, and SLP in her classroom. My goal of the conference was to make sure the needs Adeline demonstrated in the classroom aligned with the previous Early Intervention Therapists' opinions of Adeline's needs. We were on the same page from the get go.
To my surprise Adeline's teachers reported many areas of progress over the first couple months of the school year. In previous classroom settings, Adeline has to be reminded of directions and then physically directed with hand holding etc. In her new classroom, she follows directions independently! I am thrilled as this is something we have been working on ever since Adeline could understand a direction. She is rather independent in the classroom thanks to her teacher's very structured way of doing things. For example, when it is time to wash hands, blue and red tickets are handed it out and each child goes to the blue or red sink. Adeline does this with no help. She then will find her picture at the snack table (different seat everyday) and sit down and wait for her snack. I was expecting her to get distracted and start to play with something along the way. That is not the case.
Adeline also participates in circle time. She is more of a listener than active participant (no real hand motions or singing) but clearly attends to the activities. I assumed that she sat but didn't listen or understand. I was told that is absolutely not the case. Her teachers would like full body participation but are happy with her cognitive attention.
Adeline's therapist wanted to point out her unique perserverance. Her OT commented on how she has never had a child try as hard and long as Adeline tries with different tasks. It is her perserverance that continues to push her forward down the path of development. Adeline rarely gives up or protests. She is focused and has a strong desire to complete a task. All qualities I thank God for giving her. What is even better is that she trots right over to her OT when she sees her getting out an activity. One would think that Adeline would tire of all the hard "playing" but she greets these activities with a smile each and every time.
Adeline continues to prove that she learns by doing over and over again. A task that might take a typical child one or two times learn, takes Adeline ten times to learn. We are still concerned with her language delay and lack of conversation but see that she is expressing her wants and needs more clearly now. Language is difficult for me because there isn't an object that I can pull out to work on with Adeline. It is harder to practice because she doesn't have the interest in it like she does stringing beads on a pipe cleaner. Adeline's PT is thrilled with her overall increase in speed. She walks, runs, jumps and gets around much faster than she did in September. Fine motor remains behind for Adeline. She can't really color or hold a crayon with a strong grasp. Her OT is excellent and tries to put my fear of her not writing her name by Kindergarten at bay. Adeline is very far from writing anything that resembles a letter. We are still focusing on strengthening her pincer grasp.
While Adeline still has many delays and struggles, she is progressing at a faster rate than expected. I am happy to report that I walked away with smile on my face. I have a better idea of what goes on in the classoom as a whole and how my Little Belle is thriving it.
