Language-Oriented Program : Advance Ability

Language-Oriented Program

Dear Ruth,
I have a child who has autistic spectrum disorder, nonspecific neuromaturational delay, and auditory processing deficit. I have had her in the Fast ForWord program with some success. She is mainstreaming in quite a few of her classes, but needs significant help with all of her work. Though she is classified under the speech and language category at school, she is not getting a language-oriented program. I’m concerned, since she is already 12 years old, that she is missing out on a lot of important training.

D.W.

Dear D.W.,

Education at school is language-oriented by its nature! However, if you feel that her program needs address her language in some specific ways, I suggest you stay in touch with her speech/language pathologist and her special class teachers, and make your concrete concerns known to them.

What specifically would you like her to be able to do, or understand, in the language area? What specific problems do you note? I think it might be very useful to discuss with the people at school some specific examples of what you would like her to learn. Ask that they break it down into steps, if need be, and work toward those goals. Your follow-through at home is vital to the best results for your daughter. So keep in touch with the special and regular educators at school for specific guidance and suggestions to rehearse growing language skills at home.

This is the kind of concern that many parents address in IEP meetings--the Individual Educational Plan. I think you can also bring up your insights one-on-one with the teachers or specialists, because there may be a good chance they could work some solutions into the existing IEP. If not, you may want to request another IEP team meeting.

Best Wishes,
Ruth Alice Jurey, M.S., C.C.C.
Speech/Language Pathologist