Progress

I should have taken pictures, but I didn't get a chance. Today Emmi wore her processors up on her ears to school for the first time. She was fitted for earmolds a few weeks ago, and they came in yesterday. She was really excited. I think because all of her classmates wear theirs that way. She wanted to be like them. She kept pointing at her ears saying, "It bettah!"

This week we had parent/teacher conferences. Wow, what a difference a year makes. Last year, we were unsure Emmi would ever mainstream. We definitely did not think she would head to kindergarten on time. This year, her teacher is quite positive that she will not only join a mainstream class, but she will also go to kinder next year. Right on time! She is doing well. She can count, she can sort, she has developed pre-reading skills, and she is writing her name and several other words. Her PPCD class is actually following the kinder curriculum, so she may actually have an advantage come next year. While her class next year will be a mainstream class, she will still have the other girls she is currently in PPCD with in her class. So she will never be the only deaf student. Plus this school is the magnet school for deaf students. There are many deaf students even in the mainstream classes. Even the kiddos that remain in the deaf ed grade school program, join the mainstream classes for large group. I have noticed that many students throughout the school sign. I have worried about her feeling odd or alone, but I don't think this will be the case at this school. The problem will be if they try to move her to her home school in the coming years. But that will only happen if she is no longer dependant on speech or audiology during the day. Not that I want her to be dependant on therapies, but I really don't want her to move to the home school. I really love Emmi' school, and I really dislike Jill's (which is our home school). But that is a battle for later years. For now, we are really happy with Emmi's progress. I promise to video tape her talking, so you can see how she is doing. And I may actually get around to posting that video, too!