School

Catherine has been attending UCP’s Delrey school this summer. So far, she’s doing great, and we’re really happy with it, especially in comparison with the county school for special needs kids. They’ve been able to feed Catherine and to help her use switches to communicate, and she’s doing great! She had a “jam session” with one of her classmates, and they both activated switches to make music. Both these kids are ones folks might think can’t do anything. But Delrey believes in these kids, and they work harder and look a little more creatively at the ways in which the kids can respond.

For example, the one boy uses a switch at his toe and his elbow. I remember walking into Delrey the first day. We talked about using Catherine’s legs for switches rather than her hands. They wanted to know which leg was more responsive. I guessed the right, but told them I wasn’t sure. They asked what would be a second point? “A second point?” I asked. Frankly, I would be happy to get one point communicating clearly. “Yes, we like to find two so we can work on more complex communication ideas.” Wow! Not only were they trying to find communication opportunities; they wanted COMPLEX communication opportunities. I’ll take it!

Anyone in the MD area reading this can check out the school at http://www.delreyschool.org/ It’s a great program.

Cheers,

Ellen