The Suz just finished her second round of speech therapy. In order to qualify, she had to test quite a bit below average than her peers, and she easily did that last fall. So, for most of the school year, I've been taking her to a 45-minute class each week where she gets help with her speech.
Make no mistake, speech therapy is no miracle cure--it's actually the parents who have to do the hard work of working with and correcting the child at home. Kudos to the Pa for being the more consistent of the two of us as he was quite instrumental in getting the Suz back up to speed.
Anyway, there were three other little four-year-old girls in Susie's speech class, and she consistently out-personalitied them all. The other three girls were shy and reserved, scared of their own voice, much like I was at that age. They found a fast friend in the Suz who was always ready and willing to "talk" for them, regardless of how sloppy and spitty it might have sounded.
That's my girl. So helpful.
Her teacher adored the Suz, well, for the most part. I mean, sometimes the Excitement Level got out of hand and sometimes the Suz had to be reminded that it was someone else's turn to talk, seeing as it was SPEECH therapy, and not LISTEN therapy.
Just recently, Suz was tested again because we all felt she had reached a point where she was back up to normal for her age. She passed with flying colors, delighting the two testing ladies to no end. Truly. She is the child who fully engages with adults and loves to participate and tells funny little stories about her world. I've never met another child as likeable as her, God bless her gene pool, as those traits are severely lacking in someone like me.
During Susie's last session, the teacher had a little graduation party for her, complete with cookies and snacks that I'd brought in for the occasion. It was her way of celebrating Susie's progress and allowing the other girls to say goodbye to their smiley, talkative friend.
I don't know yet if she'll need therapy in the future--time will tell. But for now--good job to the girl on talking more clearly!
