We just had Evie's annual meeting with the school about her IEP. She is having
trouble communicating (due to her cleft palate) although she scores very high in receptive language. She physically cannot make many consonant sounds, which can make understanding her difficult.
The school wants to provide her with an electronic speech aid to use in class - it is about the size and weight of a brick, and has pictures that she can point to with a stylus, and the device will say the word. It is like an electronic PECS device, I guess.
Does anyone have experience with this type of speech aid? We were told that it is often used for older children/teens with autsim. I am just not sure if it is the right thing to do at this point. She is 6, she desperately doesn't want to be different or stand out in any way. I am concerned that this will become a crutch for the teachers who will encourage her to push a button to say a word instead of trying to listen to her.
We have a meeting next week to speak with the surgeons about options to help her as she seems to have hit a plateau with the speech therapy.
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I would recomend waiting to make any decisions untill after speaking with the surgens. Our Lily had to have her palate extended further back than it had been with her first palate closure. The z-plasty worked wonders for her. We went through chicago shriners and they are great. I hope you find the right choice for her. I hope it is something that will make her feel comfort and not like she is being singled out or diffrent. This is so hard for our Cleft Babies!
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