Child Study Meeting

The child study meeting for Harlie went well. I forgot exactly what happens in a child study meeting. Harlie's first was in June. I did not attend because it happened during her heart surgery hospitalization.

Basically people from different specialties (speech, physical therapy, developmental, counseling, etc.) attend the meeting and decide what areas to test, or evaluate Harlie in - to determine what services she qualifies to receive. So, in June, they determined, based on the information they had (her medical history), that she should be tested in her speech and physical abilities. She was evaluated in both areas during the summer, and at an Eligibility Meeting (where the evaluators were in attendance) it was decided that she was eligible to receive speech and physical therapy through the county's school system. That's when they wrote her Individual Education Plan (IEP) which spells out goals we want her to achieve in both areas. So, in summary, she can't receive services in an area where she's not tested.

Anyway, after a few month's therapy with the school services, her speech therapist thought we should look into getting more services for her. Especially in light of her hearing impairment. So, we met to go over things again. This time around, they are testing/evaluating her in five different areas (speech, audiological, medical, developmental and something else I can't remember right now). The reason they are re-testing her in speech is because there is a test for hearing kids, and a different test for non-hearing kids. The last time, she got the test for hearing kids. So, this time she'll get the other test.

Over the next couple of months she'll be tested in those different areas (except for audiological since she just had her ABR test). I think she has to be tested every year. Once all the tests have been conducted, we'll have an Eligibility Meeting, where they will determine what services she's eligible to receive.

Even though I don't know how things are going to go with her testing, etc. I do feel that everyone on the "team" wants to give her the right tools to help her to succeed. And I am so grateful for that. While I do wish we caught her hearing impairment sooner, she's still only three - and with the right tools, I think we can catch her up.

Take care!
~Christy