I've been calling Children's almost daily and had yet to get ahold of anyone! There was a lady I was supposed to call for the appointment but day after day of leaving messages, she'd either not return my call or she'd call during the 5 minutes it would take me to drive from our house to the school and back. After a frustrating parent teacher conference (more on that later) I called again and this time after getting the machine, I redialed and requested the appointment desk. I was extremely lucky that one of the Drs had a cancelation so we got in for the day after Thanksgiving. Its definately not the most ideal date and way across town but we'll take it!
Now about the conference....it started off good. Her teacher told us how advanced Payton is! Yeah Payton! The good portion was short lived however and quickly turned to "Payton NEEDS to start talking. Here we go again! She told us it would be okay if my mom was there for the next round of testing but she was going to sit at the table, instead of back a ways this time. She said the May testing she would not allow my mom to be there and she wants Payton to start doing simple request such as "I need to go to the bathroom" etc. We went around about how Payton really CAN'T control this. I don't think he teacher quite gets it still! Her teacher is doing a few things right though. She's allowing Payton to participate in group activities by drawing and she's including her in reading groups etc. We agreed that maybe moving her next to two of the girls Payton really seems to like that maybe they will form a friendship and Payton will start talking to them. I'm hoping the therapy is going to really help Payton but I'm not holding out hope that she will talk THIS year...hopefully in the next school year though.
Lastly, I found a great site for SM books. They are priced MUCH cheaper then Amazon! I ordered "The Silence Within" and the Supplemental book for $31 with shipping! Yeah!! I'm going to give the teacher copy to Mrs. S and hope we can use it as a tool to get a better communication system going.
Here's the website for the books....
http://www.selectivemutism.org/resources/abookstore
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Making Strides
Payton is doing so well! We went to Richies sisters wedding over the weekend and she actually talked to his cousins Julie and Kellie! She has met them before but thats really wonderful that she would talk to them because there aren't many people on her list that she will talk to! She made hand motions to some of the aunts when they asked her, her age but she didn't really make eye contact or anything with any of the new people. Hand signals are great though....we were very happy with that!
Payton had her Kindergarten testing today. My mom read the questions and Mrs. S sat kinda back a little where she wasn't right over top of Payton. Payton answered every single question! Wow! were we happy! Mrs S said my mom could come back later in the year when they did additional testing so thats a huge relief!
Dr P's office called back on Friday after we had already left for the wedding and said that Children's is getting her appointment set up for us.
We are making strides! We are so proud of Payton!
Payton had her Kindergarten testing today. My mom read the questions and Mrs. S sat kinda back a little where she wasn't right over top of Payton. Payton answered every single question! Wow! were we happy! Mrs S said my mom could come back later in the year when they did additional testing so thats a huge relief!
Dr P's office called back on Friday after we had already left for the wedding and said that Children's is getting her appointment set up for us.
We are making strides! We are so proud of Payton!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Couple of small updates...
I heard back from the pediatrician's office today. They are referring us to Children's Hospital to see a specialist. I guess normally they have the parents call and it has to go through several people before you get an appointment that can take up to three MONTHS! The gal at the office agrees with us that we should get this going as soon as we can so she's making the phone calls for me to get things moving a little more quickly. I should hear back in a few days.
Payton's note to her teacher was a huge success! Her teacher loved it and was very pleased with it! She told me they got the ok for my mom to read the questions for the screening to Payton so they will do that tomorrow. I'm hoping Payton will answer the questions even though Mrs. S will be in the room.
So just a few small updates...let's hope Miss Payton will talk for her screening tomorrow!!!
Payton's note to her teacher was a huge success! Her teacher loved it and was very pleased with it! She told me they got the ok for my mom to read the questions for the screening to Payton so they will do that tomorrow. I'm hoping Payton will answer the questions even though Mrs. S will be in the room.
So just a few small updates...let's hope Miss Payton will talk for her screening tomorrow!!!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
hmmm, maybe a new idea!
Payton had her first "library day" at school today. We read the book she picked three times together. Payton really enjoyed the book and wanted to tell her teacher how much she liked it. I got the idea of maybe writing a note to tell Mrs S about it! With my help, Payton wrote her teacher a note about how she read the book and really liked it! She's now communicating through head gestures, sign and now paper...we just need talking lol!
Haven't heard back from her pediatricians office about the referral yet so I'll call back tomorrow. She had an ok day at school today. She was kinda in a bad mood because I made her wear pants (she went through the same type of thing last Spring with wearing shorts after she was so used to pants.) Mrs S asked me what was wrong today and kinda acted like she thought it was strange when I told her the reason why she was acting funny today. I don't know if there's a connection to the SM but Payton is picky about certain fabrics, freaks out when her hands are sticky etc...just generally pretty sensitive about things like that. She had a decent day at school though and said they had inside recess and she played with the kids in her class....yeah!
Haven't heard back from her pediatricians office about the referral yet so I'll call back tomorrow. She had an ok day at school today. She was kinda in a bad mood because I made her wear pants (she went through the same type of thing last Spring with wearing shorts after she was so used to pants.) Mrs S asked me what was wrong today and kinda acted like she thought it was strange when I told her the reason why she was acting funny today. I don't know if there's a connection to the SM but Payton is picky about certain fabrics, freaks out when her hands are sticky etc...just generally pretty sensitive about things like that. She had a decent day at school though and said they had inside recess and she played with the kids in her class....yeah!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Doing some research
Doing some research on-line about Selective Mutism. Here's some interesting things I've found so far....
The characteristics (these all fit Payton!)
*Consistent failure to speak in specific social situations (in which there is an expectation for speaking, e.g., at school) despite speaking in other situations.
*The disturbance interferes with educational or occupational achievement or with social communication. (social for Payton)
*The duration of the disturbance is at least 1 month (not limited to the first month of school). (three years for Payton!)
*The failure to speak is not due to a lack of knowledge of, or comfort with, the spoken language required in the social situation.
*The disturbance is not better accounted for by a Communication Disorder (e.g., Stuttering) and does not occur exclusively during the course of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia, or other Psychotic Disorder.
and these symptoms:
*They find it difficult to maintain eye contact.
*Often don't smile and have blank expressions.
*They move stiffly and awkwardly.
*They find situations where talk is normally expected particularly hard to handle. (answering school registers, saying hello, goodbye, thank-you, etc.)
*They tend to worry about things more than others
*They can be very sensitive to noise and crowds
*Find it difficult to talk about themselves or express their feelings
On the positive side, many sufferers have:
*Above-average intelligence, perception, or are inquisitive
*Sensitivity to others' thoughts and feelings (empathy)
*Very good powers of concentration (focused)
*A good sense of right/wrong/fairness (justice)
I also found article that said its more common in girls and can run in families....my mom we think had this as a child and my dad and myself have a lot of issues with "shyness." It' also believed to be in about 7 in every 1000 kids so in reality a school Payton's size they could go 10-15 years and have maybe one kid with this which is probably why her teacher isn't familiar with it!
The characteristics (these all fit Payton!)
*Consistent failure to speak in specific social situations (in which there is an expectation for speaking, e.g., at school) despite speaking in other situations.
*The disturbance interferes with educational or occupational achievement or with social communication. (social for Payton)
*The duration of the disturbance is at least 1 month (not limited to the first month of school). (three years for Payton!)
*The failure to speak is not due to a lack of knowledge of, or comfort with, the spoken language required in the social situation.
*The disturbance is not better accounted for by a Communication Disorder (e.g., Stuttering) and does not occur exclusively during the course of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia, or other Psychotic Disorder.
and these symptoms:
*They find it difficult to maintain eye contact.
*Often don't smile and have blank expressions.
*They move stiffly and awkwardly.
*They find situations where talk is normally expected particularly hard to handle. (answering school registers, saying hello, goodbye, thank-you, etc.)
*They tend to worry about things more than others
*They can be very sensitive to noise and crowds
*Find it difficult to talk about themselves or express their feelings
On the positive side, many sufferers have:
*Above-average intelligence, perception, or are inquisitive
*Sensitivity to others' thoughts and feelings (empathy)
*Very good powers of concentration (focused)
*A good sense of right/wrong/fairness (justice)
I also found article that said its more common in girls and can run in families....my mom we think had this as a child and my dad and myself have a lot of issues with "shyness." It' also believed to be in about 7 in every 1000 kids so in reality a school Payton's size they could go 10-15 years and have maybe one kid with this which is probably why her teacher isn't familiar with it!
Teacher meeting and Referral
Wow a big day! My mom and I printed a bunch of information on Selective Mutism and went to school a little early to present it to her teacher in hopes that maybe she would understand Payton better. She did thank us for the info but she seems somewhat indifferent about all this. We asked if my mom or I could be present when they did the retesting to help Payton feel comfortable so maybe she would do the test and she just told us the principal would have to approve that. We brought her a video of Payton doing her Kindergarten testing from last year too so hopefully that will show her that Payton IS doing all the things she needs to be doing. I'm thinking about e-mailing her in another day or so to tell her we don't need her to do anything special for Payton...just not pressure her to talk! I called her pediatricians office back and she agreed with me it wouldn't be a bad idea to get her into a specialist. They referred us to a Behavioral Neuropsychiatric Specialist but they didn't accept our insurance so I'm waiting to hear back again. I know she doesnt have behavior issues but with there being so few specialists out there thats where they are getting started. Children's Hospital by us has a SM program so after she gets her "offical" diagnosis we'll go from there. I feel like some pressure has been lifted and Payton does too. We told her that she can talk when she's ready and we won't "make" her talk if she's not ready to. She has an awesome day at school today and even got a totsie roll as a reward which she was very excited about!
Intro...meet Payton!
I am the mom of a brilliant, smart and wonderful six year old little girl named Payton. Much of the rest of the world doesn't know what a smart little girl I have because they haven't heard this beautiful little voice! Payton is a Selective Mute and I created this blog to document our journey and to find other moms with these speacial kids!
We always knew Payton was shy but assumed it was that "stranger anxiety" many little kids went through. She would shrink back when strangers would come up and run their fingers through her beautiful red curls (I swear that red hair is a magnet for people wanting to touch it!) Payton was an early talker and had a very extensive vocabulary even at a very early age. I only worked part-time so when I worked a shift that she needed babysat my mom would watch her. She talked constantly at home and at grandmas so we didn't expect such a dramatic difference when she started school!
Payton started preschool right after she turned three. The first week a lot of the kids missed mom and were shy to the new experience. Payton wouldn't eat snack, color her pictures and she wouldn't talk to her classmates or teachers. When a month went by and then two we started thinking something was up. At her end of the year review with her teacher she brought up the term "selective mute." Payton started back into the 4's class in the fall with a wonderful, supportive teacher. She didnt put a lot of pressure on Payton and Payton started communicating through hand signals. She started feeling more open at school and started eating snack, playing instruments in music class and coloring. She went back last fall to pre-K with the same teacher and made even more advances. There was only five kids in her class that year and one other girl so they became good friends and Payton even talked to her by the end of the year!
Now to present...
Payton started Kindergarten about two weeks ago at a different school. I went in ahead of time and told the teacher that we believed Payton was a Selective Mute and she went three years in preschool without talking to her teacher. Payton is struggling, wanting to talk to her teacher and making new friends but we could tell it mades her extremely nervous. Payton is known in new situations to not make eye contact, move akward, put her head down etc and her teacher approached me on Friday asking me if she "was just stubborn" and telling me she HAD to talk by Monday because they were doing testing and Payton failed the verbal part. My husband and I have decided it time to get Payton help. The preschool was wonderful in working with her but the Public school is putting pressure on her which is only making things worse! We have talked to her pediatrician already and she agrees we need to see a speacialist so we are waiting to hear back for our referal. I've created this blog to record our journey with over very speacial daughter, to meet other parents going through the same thing and to help other parents who will go through this after us!
More to come! Time to get Payton from school....
We always knew Payton was shy but assumed it was that "stranger anxiety" many little kids went through. She would shrink back when strangers would come up and run their fingers through her beautiful red curls (I swear that red hair is a magnet for people wanting to touch it!) Payton was an early talker and had a very extensive vocabulary even at a very early age. I only worked part-time so when I worked a shift that she needed babysat my mom would watch her. She talked constantly at home and at grandmas so we didn't expect such a dramatic difference when she started school!
Payton started preschool right after she turned three. The first week a lot of the kids missed mom and were shy to the new experience. Payton wouldn't eat snack, color her pictures and she wouldn't talk to her classmates or teachers. When a month went by and then two we started thinking something was up. At her end of the year review with her teacher she brought up the term "selective mute." Payton started back into the 4's class in the fall with a wonderful, supportive teacher. She didnt put a lot of pressure on Payton and Payton started communicating through hand signals. She started feeling more open at school and started eating snack, playing instruments in music class and coloring. She went back last fall to pre-K with the same teacher and made even more advances. There was only five kids in her class that year and one other girl so they became good friends and Payton even talked to her by the end of the year!
Now to present...
Payton started Kindergarten about two weeks ago at a different school. I went in ahead of time and told the teacher that we believed Payton was a Selective Mute and she went three years in preschool without talking to her teacher. Payton is struggling, wanting to talk to her teacher and making new friends but we could tell it mades her extremely nervous. Payton is known in new situations to not make eye contact, move akward, put her head down etc and her teacher approached me on Friday asking me if she "was just stubborn" and telling me she HAD to talk by Monday because they were doing testing and Payton failed the verbal part. My husband and I have decided it time to get Payton help. The preschool was wonderful in working with her but the Public school is putting pressure on her which is only making things worse! We have talked to her pediatrician already and she agrees we need to see a speacialist so we are waiting to hear back for our referal. I've created this blog to record our journey with over very speacial daughter, to meet other parents going through the same thing and to help other parents who will go through this after us!
More to come! Time to get Payton from school....
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