[blindkid] I am so incredibly proud and need to share!

Rene Harrell rjharrell at gmail.com
Sun Oct 18 20:12:30 UTC 2009


Hello all,

I've kind of dropped off the face of the earth these past few months. My
just turned three year old has been struggling with unstable heart issues
and after several rounds of hospitalizations, a couple of heart
catherizations, two open heart surgeries plus a new baby due in a matter of
weeks....well, we've been in that "survival" mode I'm sure others of you
know very well.

In the midst of all of this, we've still been plodding away homeschooling
wise. Clare just turned 8 and we have been working, working, working on
mastering her alphabet for several years now. Progress has been slow, but we
have patiently continued to plod along, hoping to give her every opportunity
for the light bulb to finally go off.

Well, I have to say that this was the week! We've been using Tack-Tiles in
combination with real braille, and last week you could tell she was actually
processing letters and trying to read. I had the word "MAT" on the tack-tile
slate and I switched off the "T" for a "P" without telling her and asked her
to tell me what word was there. She scanned the board, started to say "MAT"
again, then paused and all on her own said "No, not MAT....MAP." She still
doesn't have full mastery of all her letters but she is truly starting to
grasp the concept of reading, and is demonstrating the consistent ability to
read words! Not memorize them, but truly read them!

I am completely and absolutely thrilled. We dealt with so many people who
doubted she'd ever have the cognitive ability to read, and while it's not
Shakespeare, she is indeed reading and she's only just turned 8. Here is to
long-term persistence and effort......I'm just so completely thrilled for
her! And better yet, you can tell she is feeling very proud of herself.

So, I couldn't help but share. It's been three years in the making, but you
never know when it could possibly happen.

Rene in Colorado Springs--- Mom to 5, including Clare (ROP) who is becoming
the champion of words ending in -at, -ap, and -an

-- 
" I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up
where I needed to be."
-- Douglas Adams



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