.I don't care how many evaluations we have to undergo with Diva Girl, I doubt I will ever grow to dread them any less. There is something about having to watch your child be tested and see that evaluator scribble down all the ways she is coming short...well, it can be plain old depressing.
Today we had a speech evaluation for Social Security Income. Apparently, they needed to make sure we're not pulling a fast one on them. Alright, fine, I have no problem taking her in to prove how behind she is *sigh*
We show up and sit in the second nastiest waiting room I've ever been in (the first involved blood stained chairs, so I am pretty sure the first place spot is reserved for all time). Diva Girl was covered in dust in a matter of minutes, and I had the joy of digging an ancient skittle out of her mouth. I could tell this was gonna be good, but little did I know...
Granted, the evaluator herself was a sweet lady. She tried to be as sensitive as she could while we went over G's medical history and blah blah blah. Apparently SSI hadn't sent her any info on us, because she was happily surprised when I told her G has a formal diagnosis and is getting therapy. You could read on her face that she was relieved that she would not have to be the person giving me the news that my dear daughter has issues.
Of course, Diva Girl did awful. She wouldn't identify a darn thing, she kept flicking the lights off, and we spent most of the time trying to keep her away from the computer and paper cutter (seriously, who conducts evaluations in their actual office?!?). I think there were 5 identifiable words spoken the entire time we were there. But what else do they expect when they put my kid in a strange room with a strange lady? If I get a copy of this evaluation, please remind me that the results mean nothing and that I don't care that she will say something like "she is in the bottom 1%" Because the good news is that I can't imagine them not approving her case. And the better news is that she is doing better than any evaluation can measure. If she doesn't want to point to a ball when a stranger asks her to, fine...what matters is that she can look me in the eyes and say "ball!" when I hand one to her. And who cares if she didn't want to look at a picture of a baby? What makes me proud is that she came up to Husband and I and said "Rascal sleeping" one night last week (Yes, she knows who he is! And what it means when mommy takes him back to the bedroom! And mommy totally started crying and hugging her like a crazy lady when this happened!)
I see progress. I hear words. So who really cares about evaluations anyway?
You have a formal diagnosis and SSI still put u thru a speech eval? Well, here's the good news I can give you... When you get approved you will have great medical coverage and you won't have to take your daughter to such a nasty waiting room ever again.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't get why we had to do that. Maybe none of them actually knew what Childhood Disintegrative Disorder is (pretty much NO ONE does!). So they decided that one of their people should see us to make sure we didn't make it up. Extra irritating since she is already on TennCare, so they have access to everything already.
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