Gloria: Time to Celebrate

My colleague Cristi Mercedes Saylor, a deaf/hard of hearing specialist in San Diego County, emailed me great news about a student that CDBS has provided technical assistance to since February 2003. At that time the child was three years old; she is now nine.

Cristi wrote that the child’s one-on-one assistant reported that the child has started to sign ‘WANT” in a modified form, by touching her chest so she can feel the sign touch her own body. The assistant also reported that the child tickles others to ask to be tickled, and that the child recently nodded her head to mean “yes” twice in one day.

Cristi then went on to write about her own observations of the student:

She is starting to chew tiny pieces of food. I watched her as she took the smallest bites possible and daintily chewed them. It was pretty cute to see her do this. She initiated taking her cup and drinking from it. She is also MUCH better at using her object calendar. She carries each object one at a time, attached with Velcro to the outside of her little fanny pack. She knows to pull them off when it’s time. It’s still a tiny bit hard for her but she does initiate it herself.

Cristi ends her email by writing, “It’s all pretty cool stuff. Muy bien!!!”

I think it is very important to celebrate the accomplishments of the children we serve. It’s also important to recognize the efforts of the children, and the efforts of the families, and service providers that have and continue to support the child over the years.

Of course we know that in our work, doing our best everyday is the right thing to do. But when working with children with complex specialized needs, we may not see the point of the enormous effort we put in. We don’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel but, as this story demonstrates, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I want to acknowledge this child’s educational team. She has been served by one of the best educational teams I have ever worked with. They work with a sense of joy and pride in what they do. They care about and respect the child, and work as closely as they can with this child’s family.

Kudos to All!

Gloria Rodriguez-Gil, CDBS Educational Specialist