Recptive and Expressive Language Delay

Many of you have been urging me to speak to Lily's teacher. I have been putting it off. I am a wuss when it comes to confrontations. To recap, Lily's teacher tested her ability to read and recognize letters etc - Lily did poorly on the test. This came as a shock to me because she if very good at doing these types of things at home.

We had another incident. The kids started coming home with books to read. They are cute little books containing three letter words the kids can sound out based on the letters they have learned so far this year. Lily read the book and had so much fun she has read it to me more than 100 times. The first time you read a book on your own its a little magical. Once the child could read the book we are supposed to send it back in so they can be tested. Lily did not do well on the test.

Another book comes home. This one I am supposed to read to Lily because it is supposedly beyond her reading level. She read it to me no problem. I was a little amazed. Seems she understands how to sound out words. She read the book to me several times. We talked about the story over and over. I was absolutely certain that she understood how to read each word in the book and also understood what the teachers call fluency (meaning she knows what the words mean). I signed the paper and sent the book back to school and Lily came home with a note saying her score was 0% and that I need to make sure she understands the book before I sign the paper.

I didn't know what to do. I was very upset. Jeff happened to be home from work that day and told me to write an email to the teacher. I didn't want to. I didn't know what to say. So Jeff wrote the email. The teacher called us back immediately and I got the phone. I was hoping he would.

I talked to the teacher for almost an hour. Turns out that she knows Lily is an excellent reader. She knows that Lily is very bright. She knows that I work with her and she appreciates all I do. She says Lily is very well behaved too. But... She believes that Lily is having a problem with her ability to understand and communicate language. The fancy words are expressive and receptive language. while Lily is doing well in class even better than most, it takes her a long time to understand directions etc.

This conversation was like a light bulb moment for me. The teacher had literally explained my child to me. I have always known that she is not exactly the same as everyone else. I mean she is very smart, so it is hard to explain what is different. She has an excellent vocabulary and speaks well, but her ability to have a conversation is limited. Meaning she often doesn't answer questions. I will be talking about one thing and she will be talking about something else. Getting a connection with Lily is a challenge. I often times have to repeat things or demonstrate things in a demonstrative manner before she knows what I mean. I guess I have been doing this intuitively. I love Lily's teacher. I can't believe how many times I have taken her to the doctor or written on my blog about something and not been able to figure it out.

Right now we are in the process of going through paperwork and talking to the speech teacher and head teacher to see if we need to come up with a program. We will at some point have a meeting all together. I don't know that there is any intervention needed because she is doing quite well in school. It is just nice that the teacher and I both understand that she isn't always able to understand directions right off the bat. It isn't that she isn't listening or paying attention, she isn't being bad. It may be something she will just grow out of and catch up with her peers or it may just be the way she is.

I read that all children with Autism have this problem too. The thing is that Lily's isn't that severe. I think the biggest problem is that she is ahead of her peers cognitively and behind in her language skills. It must be hard to not have the language ability to express all that goes on in her head. It is not for a lack of trying because she talks pretty much every waking moment. I guess she is working on things.

That is what is up with the Lily bug, she learned how to read - she is reading whole actual books it makes me want to sing and dance. And her teacher figured out what it is about Lily that is just a little bit different than other kids. She has a little bit of trouble processing language.