I have not written much about language disorders in the last year, and I realize that is because it is not as big of an issue for my daughter as it has been. For those new to my blog, my daughter has a severe mixed expressive/receptive language disorder and phonological disorder. She was diagnosed at the age of 32 months by Dr. Stephen Camarata, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. In layman’s terms, Hannah has had considerable difficulty in expressing herself with language and in understanding or comprehending spoken language. She also struggled to produce easily understood speech patterns – typically this is accomplished by the age of 4.
Hannah will be 9 in December, and she has made incredible progress on all fronts. The phonological difficulties are mostly gone now. She does continue to have a problem with “th” sounds when “th” is in the middle of a word. For example, she can say “the, this, with”, but has difficulty with a word such as “something” or “together”, which she says as “toge’er”. We are working on producing the “th” sound when it is embedded in a word. I remember Dr. Camarata telling me back in 2004 not to worry about the phonology at that point, because those errors could be worked on when she was older, but to focus completely on the comprehension and expression of language.
Mixed expressive/receptive language disorder has been quite a challenge for Hannah and for me. For those interested in the full story and techniques we used, I will list several links at the end of this post. For now, a quick update as we rush toward the age of 9.
Hannah is a visual learner, and as such, I discovered early on that words on paper made a lot more sense to her than the spoken word. Hannah started reading books by herself at the age of 6. In a recent reading assessment, she is now reading independently at a 5th grade level (she’s in third grade) and with some assistance at a 6th/7th grade level. The written word and teaching Hannah how to read have been the greatest single tool in developing her spoken language and understanding of language.
Conversation with Hannah is now more complex and includes more abstractions. She does struggle with conversations when people throw too many questions at her and in situations when there is a lot going on around her, but she continues to make progress. Dr. Camarata projected that with the severity of her language disorder, that it would be about 5th grade before most people would not notice her language difficulties, and that continues to be on target.
Homeschool is going very well, and the Switched On Schoolhouse (SOS) computer-based curriculum from Alpha Omega Publications continues to be a wonderful choice for our family. The topics she is learning in school are: History and Geography; Language Arts; Math; Science; and Bible. A typical topic within a subject will include reading, a project, vocabulary, lessons to complete, and quizzes. A unit will conclude with a test. I ran her grade report recently, and she has two A’s, two B’s, and a C (math). Although math is not her strength, her comprehension continues to develop in this area and she is now working with multiple columns of numbers. The great thing about this curriculum is that I can clear out math lessons she has done and have her do them again to reinforce the concepts, but she can continue to move forward in the other subjects.
Is my daughter like most other almost 9 year olds? Nope. She is sweet, polite, loves school, and enjoys simple things in life like reading, walking with her mom, building with Wedgits, and drawing (she loves to draw). It is true that her language is not as advanced as other children her age, but Dr. Camarata reminded me often that I should never compare her language development to anyone but herself and where she was 6 or 12 months ago, and that as long as she is making forward progress from where she was, then all is well.
All is well.
OneMom
Links about our life with Language Disorders:
- OneMom Speaks
- OneMom a Closet Left-Wing Liberal
- Autism or Language Disorder?
- Our Journey Part I
- Our Journey Part II
- Teaching Language vs Teaching Comprehension
- Teaching Comprehension (Word Webs)
Incoming search terms:
- mixed expressive and receptive language and reading disorder
- expressive receptive language disorder
- homeschool blog language disorder
- homeschool language disorder
- homeschooling merld history curriculum
- stephen camarata MERLD
Hi Kerry! Just wanted to let you know that I still drop in from time to time. It seems that this year has been especially busy. So glad to see Hannah’s progress. What a difference homeschooling has made with your daughter! I know that you feel the same. I’ve recently found a blogger that I love to read and thought you might also. Here’s the link:
http://www.aholyexperience.com/
She’s a homeschool mom in Canada and a gifted writer. I find much encouragement in her words. I’ve also recently found Lamplighter books and theatre and we have so enjoyed these. Here’s the link for Lamplighter:
http://www.lamplighterpublishing.com/
They have such wonderful, wholesome stories that simply captivate my children.
Just wanted you to know I still think of you and Hannah often.
Brenda
Hello Brenda! It is so good to hear from you. I just thought of you the other day when I was cleaning out some of Hannah’s drawers and realized that her “Homeschoolers Love Huckabee” sweatshirt is too small for her. Thanks for passing along the websites – I am familiar with lamplighter, but I hadn’t thought of that in quite some time, so I am grateful for the reminder.
You are so right about how homeschooling has been a wonderful blessing for Hannah. We were going to homeschool even before we knew of her language challenges, but even more so it has been such a benefit for her. God has certainly blessed our family.
Love you guys…..Thanks for all of the education Kerry
Thanks Cat … we love you guys too.