As both a parent of a
child with special needs and a speech-language pathologist, I intimately know the suffering that colors and clouds the minds of parents
of children with developmental disorders or delays. And I am familiar with the thoughts it generates: Can my child catch up? Is there
a point she will never grow past? Where can I find the experts to fix this problem I'm powerless to solve? How can I afford this?
Even, Is my child a flawed human being? And, Is it my fault?
When not confronted,
these questions, doubts, and fears take on a life of their own, leading us to misguided choices. They drain our energy; put our kids
through programs that make them suffer; cost us too much money; and, worst of all, stand between our child and the people who virtually
always can help them the most - we, their parents.
It is not enough to
reduce or ameliorate the effects of our child's disability even if being able to do so may seem the most wonderful and impossible of
dreams. Success is not helping a child go from "minus" to "median." Our goal is to achieve as much on the positive side above "zero"
or "median" as possible to counteract how much we and our children have been pushed under median by their challenges and our
reactions to them.
That's why I devote my
studies and research to uncovering and making accessible to parents strategies that allow them to enter their child's world of movement
and feeling in specific, effective ways. That means enabling them to consistently bring out the strengths in themselves and their
children; keep their eyes open to the invariable communication strengths the child is demonstrating moment to moment; and, at the same
time, clearly discover how to use those strengths to leverage the child's next step. When arrived at correctly, this process of
discovering the kind of interactions that best serve the child's development will lead to finding those that best encourage and inform
their parents' growth and hopes.
Though I have a battery
of paper-based tests at my disposal to assess very young children, I often start out with the LENA Developmental Snapshot. Concise and
covering multiple layers of what is essential to successful communication, the Developmental Snapshot helps provide me with a better
understanding of parents' concerns and, supported by my own open-ended questions, helps us later arrive at a consensus on therapy
approaches.
When a parent answers
the Developmental Snapshot questions differently from how I would for a particular child, I can see how they perceive
their child's communication status. I can also get a sense of the type of emotional challenges they may face as they participate in
generating the kind of interactions that will inspire and nurture their youngster's communication development for their mutual growth
and joy.
The Developmental
Snapshot succinctly illustrates a clear developmental progression, is easy to administer in tandem with the parent, and takes just
moments to score. As a result, the assessment is an obliging tool in helping to bridge the gap for us - conceptually and
emotionally - between isolating deficits and successfully and joyfully building on strengths.
