[A letter from Emilee's parents and one that brought tears to our eyes!]
In 1998 at age 3, Emilee was first diagnosed with Apraxia. In the fall of 2005 at age 11, we watched with great anxiety as Emilee descended into the jungle of the middle school. Her learning differences, the academics, social issues, and even being able to open her locker, were all things that kept us up at night wondering how she was ever going to survive the fall of 6th grade, let alone the whole middle school experience.
Well, through more hard work than we could have ever imagined, along with the help of some truly wonderful teachers, aids, her family, and a great (small) group of friends, not only did she survive, she THRIVED. At her 8th grade “graduation” last month, we learned that Emilee was one of only 15 students in a class of 168 to earn the President's Award for Educational Excellence for maintaining at least an “A-“ average in every subject for the entire 3 years of middle school. In addition, she was one of 4 girls nominated by her peers and teachers an award, which is given each year to the outstanding boy and girl in the 8th grade. While she was certainly not one of the more “popular” students, her peers and teachers really admired her incredible work ethic and kindness to others. Needless to say, we could not be more proud of her.
For ninth grade, Emilee will be headed to a small private school just outside of Boston. While they do not offer “services” per se, they specialize in a “multiple intelligences” approach to teaching with small class sizes and a learning center to help guide the students along. It looks like it is going to be a great fit and Emilee is very excited.
Our message to those just starting down the path with a child with CAS would be to never give up hope. While this difficult journey to “Holland” (http://www.our-kids.org/Archives/Holland.html) is far from over, there are wonderful stops to enjoy along the way. You just have to watch for them, because you never know when or where they will pop up. Emilee never ceases to amaze us: from speaking when it was unclear how well she would ever speak, to riding a bike when it looked like a lost cause, to thriving in middle school, when we were worried if she would ever survive it. We are looking forward to seeing what the next four years of the journey will bring.
What a wonderful story! Thank you for a good dose of "hope"!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Thanks for giving us hope :) Emily sounds like a GREAT kid!
ReplyDelete-Gretchen Walsh
(Cooper's Mom)
This is just what I needed today. It's just one of those days when you wonder if your child is ever going to talk...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Thanks for the happy tears! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the hope! I cried as I read that letter, because I am panicking for my 5 year old daughter going in to kindergarten next year. Thank you, again for posting an uplifting letter!
ReplyDeleteMany pats on your back!! Emily would never be where she is today without hard work from her and her parents!! I know this because at the age of 3 my dgt. was diagnosed with severe apraxia. She could not say even one word, never could crawl, and walking came late. Today as a 10 y.o. 4th grader she is one of the top in her class. Her speech is near perfect. We continue, however, to face the daily challenges of Apraxia. Sometimes her speech has to be slowed down and repeated, the organization of learning takes more time, and socially we are working on her confidence. Her teachers and therapists over the years have been wonderful. Your letter gives me hope for the middle school that we will journey into next year.
ReplyDeleteMany pats on your back!! Emily would not be where she is today without hardwork from her and her parents!! I know this as at the age of 3yrs. old my dgt. was diagnosed with severe apraxia. She could not say even one word, never crawled, and walking came late. Today as a 4th grade 10y.o. she is academically one of the top and her speech is near perfect. We still have the daily struggles with Apraxia where she may have to slow down and repeat her speech and the organization of her school work takes more effort. Her teachers and therapists over the years have been wonderful. Your letter gives me hope as she will journey into the middle school next year.
ReplyDelete