I have been a speech-language pathologist for over 20 years. I have worked in schools, private clinics, home health, and hospitals. I have worked with a wide variety of children with different challenges such as articulation disorders, language disorders, Apraxia, Autism, oral motor weakness, voice disorder, fluency disorders, and executive functioning needs. Working alongside some of the best occupational therapists, I have learned a great deal about sensory processing disorders, fine motor skills, core strength, coordination, and more.  

 

However, some of the most beneficial education I have had has been through walking with my own child through this world. She had tummy issues as a baby and sleep issues. As she grew, other challenges presented themselves. She would begin to demonstrate anxiety in various situations along with developing Encopresis. Sensory processing challenges became a part of daily life. She couldn’t stand seams on socks, she sought out movement in the form of rolling around, cartwheels, dancing, and jumping from place to place, and she did not know how to keep an appropriate distance from people (especially friends). At drop-off for preschool, the teachers had to pull her off of me. One summer when she was 5 she cried 30 days straight on the way to summer camp. It was then that our pediatrician decided she may need medication for anxiety. To date, Isabella has worked with 3 different counselors/psychologists, 3 different psychiatrists, and a couple of really great pediatricians.  

 

Some days we were tired to the bone.  Some days we just couldn’t cry anymore.  Some days we celebrated the wonderful things about Isabella.  You see, these challenges and diagnoses did not come separate from joy.  Isabella is a bright, talented (singer, actress, artist), sensitive, caring, child.  She LOVES being with friends and ADORES spending time with babies and toddlers.  

 

As Isabella grew older, we noticed difficulty with attention and academics.  It didn’t make sense - she was very bright but was not always presented that way.  Enter the diagnosis of ADHD (which I knew was coming).  Then began the next round of advocating and fighting to get Isabella to have what she needed to be successful in the traditional school system.  Isabella has attended a total of 4 different traditional schools.  She first attended a private Christian school, then a charter school, next was the public school, and finally another smaller Christian school.  The last school, the smaller Christian school, was by far the best traditional school placement.  She was in a class of 10 children total with one teacher.  The school was based on a hands-on learning and incidental learning approach.  The community was loving.  Unfortunately, we again began noticing Isabella struggling with math and dictation assignments.  When Covid-19 hit and the state was delivered into distance learning and quarantine, we started to see firsthand how Isabella was learning and where she was having difficulties.  She did much better if we sat at the same table as her; she could figure out her own math mistakes if we just pointed to the problem she had written, if we read to her, she processed and comprehended the information better than if she read it herself.  My work as a speech-language pathologist had me working with many children with ADHD, executive functioning challenges, and processing difficulties.  I knew we were missing something.  Isabella had a complete neuropsycheducational assessment in the summer of 2020.  The testing uncovered that Isabella had a significant gap between her verbal comprehension score and her processing speed.  So, she can do all the things - but if it was presented too fast, or the classroom was noisy, she was missing information.  So, here we are in the fall of 2020, wearing masks, sanitizing our hands like crazy, keeping our distance, and going to school daily.  Fairly quickly, the processing speed challenges began to rear its head.  Isabella was holding herself together each day at school, but she was falling apart at home.  As a family, my husband and I decided it wasn’t worth it anymore.  I really started thinking about pulling her out of school and homeschooling her.  

 

WHAT?!?! Me, homeschool my child?  You have got to be kidding me!  I said I would never homeschool my child! In hindsight, I probably should have listened to Isabella.  She had been asking me to homeschool her since she was 6 years old (bright, insightful, self-aware child).  

 

So with mixed emotions and encouragement from two homeschool mama friends we took the leap!  Homeschool is alive in our household!  We are learning as we go, but seeing that it can be done and our child can learn and be in a happy place at the same time.  Isabella has kept in touch with her close friends from the most recent school setting and is now making new friends and having new experiences through homeschool groups.  We are taking things one day at a time.  

 

We have navigated these challenges and seen some wonderful changes along the way.  I realized that while I was navigating all of this, I was also helping others navigate their journey as well.  In my last job, I was the assistant clinic director of a successful pediatric speech/language therapy, occupational therapy, and ABA therapy clinic.  Some of the work I enjoyed the most in that job was getting to speak with so many moms and dads when they first called to ask about services for their child.  My experience as a speech-language pathologist and my experience as a mom of a daughter with special needs has helped me become skilled at guiding parents to the next appropriate steps for their own journeys with their children.  

 

I have worked with so many families who may have come to a speech-language pathologist for one particular concern, but after speaking with them and asking the right questions, I was able to give them a bigger picture and recommend resources and the next steps in their journey.  

 

If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s speech-language development, I am happy to discuss those with you and determine the best route for you and your child.  When I hear your story, I will do all I can to point you in the right direction and provide appropriate resources.

 

Update: After homeschooling for a few years, in 2021, Isabella decided to try traditional school again. Isabella enjoys parts of both homeschooling and traditional school and we will be revisiting our schooling decision every school year. Next school year Isabella will be in high school and we will see where we land.