I am going to share my observations
about Snicklebritches. She is four years old and she attended ECSE
last year. They had assured me she met all her goals on her IEP, but
slowly I am beginning to discover that either she is losing skills OR
the school was not completely honest about her abilities. For
instance, Miss Teacher said that Snicklebritches is able to divide
items by color even though she is unable to identify the color names.
I have been trying for two weeks to recreate this ability they claim
she has. I would set her up with her math frogs with index cards I
had scribbled a matching color on and instructed her to group like
colors on the same color card. She did not comply. I tried again with
her “My Little Ponies”, grouping them into colors and then
handing her a pony and asking her which group does this one belong
with? She wasn't complying with my request then either, because she
has a certain way the ponies go together and silly Momma was messing
it all up. I got out her Lauri Kids Puzzle, collected all the pieces
and hid the puzzle. I showed her how I was sorting them into three
piles, one of each color. She divided them into piles, but not by
color. Instead, she divided them by the action the kid was doing
(jumping, running, or standing). Finally I got her frog math set back
out to do the matching activity. She was able to do this perfectly
every time, so she is probably not colorblind, just stubborn. It has
to be a certain way and I just cannot get a peek inside her head to
see how it works out in her mind.
On this same subject, she does not seem
to recognize likenesses and differences of similar objects. With her
counting frogs, they come in large, medium, and small. She does not
understand that concept. They're all just part of the same set. I do
know that she can recognize likenesses because she loves pairing up
her dolls with the matching half, she keeps all the frogs together,
she keeps all her “my little ponies” together, and so on. But
when I ask her which my little pony is the smallest/largest/has
wings/etc, she doesn't answer me.
The school had said that she CANNOT
count. They are wrong on this one. Snicklebritches indeed can count
to ten using sign language and to 30 using her voice. However, she
cannot count objects. For example, if I give her 10 frogs, she will
count to ten. And when I take one away and ask her to count them
again, she should come up with 9, but she will count one twice and
say she has ten. She can read the numerals 0-10. If it ends on a 9
with the numeral “9” under it, she will read it and say there's
9, but she doesn't seem to be able to understand the concept of
counting objects. I hope I am making sense? She has the numbers
memorized and loves the orderly logic way they are arranged, always
the same every time. But she has not related numbers to objects. She
knows there are 12 eggs in a carton, but does not understand that the
number of eggs change every time we use some up. She thinks there are
always 12 in there, even though I count it out with her, “1, 2,
3... etc to 8. Eight, 8. there are 8 eggs now.” She will count to
twelve, pointing at some eggs twice. She gets stuck that if there
should be a certain number, there's always that many there.
She cannot identify shapes, but she is
able to do all kinds of puzzles and shape sorters correctly on the
first try, even if she has never done a particular puzzle before. She
is able to do the tangram thing they have at the Discovery Center on
the first try each time and I can't do it. She must have a 3-D mind,
able to pull things apart and examine from all angles in her mind
while doing these puzzles. But ask her which is the circle and which
is the square and she will shrug. Snicklebritches also does not
understand positions. She doesn't know what I mean by behind the
couch, under the bed, above the shelves, etc.This is why she tests so
low on the cognitive evaluation.
ECSE has also claimed that
Snicklebritches is good at using scissors. Uh... no. I have given her
regular scissors, preschool scissors, and even the spring assisted
scissors. Nope. She acts like nobody has ever handed her those
before. I showed her hand over hand how to use the scissors and she
had that awkward grip as if each time was her first time using a pair
of scissors. So I won't be using the “I can cut!” workbooks I
purchased and will go back to the basics of snipping thin strips of
paper strips, play dough, etc until she is comfortable with the
opening/closing action of using them.
They also claim she has a knack for
drawing. I haven't experienced this. She does not even scribble
anything remotely representing anything distinguishable. She will
hold her writing instruments using a fist and she prefers to stab the
writing surface repeatedly, ending up with many dots. She rarely
scribbles and will do scribbles when I show her how much more color
stays on the paper with this stroke. She'll always resume the
stabbing motion for more dots. At least now I know all those pretty
artwork sent home with Snicklebritches were actually done by the
teacher's aides, not my daughter. But that's the thing... I prefer a
messy unrecognizable piece of artwork over the recognizable but
impersonal artwork.
Snicklebritches does not identify
common objects. The school said she would say “swing”, but when I
bring her to the park and ask her to lead me to the swings, she will
look at me puzzled until I show them to her and then she will say
“oooh, more swing please?” So she does understand the word swing,
but does not identify this slinged device hanging from the bars as a
“swing.” Same with being thirsty. She comes to ask for “More
drink please.” I ask her where is her cup? She will stand there
wondering what a cup is until I find it and ask her what this is. She
will reply “More drink please.” But does not say “this is a
cup.” It has been frustrating because sometimes I would like her
opinion on what she might want for lunch rather than asking her if
she wants this or that. She thinks in action and logistics, not in
objects that has names. If I ask Snicklebritches “Go get me the
hairbrush.”, nothing. But when I rephrase it as “Do you want me
to do your hair? Go get the things I need;” she will then find the
hairbrush for me.
But... she CAN label things. She's
proven this. She loves to point at things on our body and identifying
them. When I ask her where my body parts are, she correctly points to
them. She does reverse chin/cheek, but having a deaf voice, these
probably sound the same from me. She loves learning more new names
for our body parts. She can point not only the usual cheeks, nose,
eyes, chin, etc but also the philtrum, ala, tragus, etc. She also can
find the right body parts on the dolls when I ask her “Where is the
(fill in blank)?” She also seems to understand that humans are same
yet some humans are different. Boys have something that girls don't
have. Some people have darker skin that do not wash off because it's
not chocolate and some people have broken senses. (Like her momma has
broken ears, her brother has broken touching, and a family friend has
broken eyes), therefore, she somewhat understands we humans
experience the world using our senses.
So... there you go, I shared a bit
about the mystery that my daughter is. I am positive that she is not
learning disabled. Her brother definitely without a doubt is learning
disabled, but Snicklebritches? No.... I believe she is just a
stubborn late bloomer and that it's the best thing for everybody to
just sit back and let her bide her time.
