I am not suggesting anyone is underestimating a child’s abilities.
The word “every” has provoked what I perceive as a reader to be a toxic response. Let me explain where I feel the misunderstanding began.
I said I didn’t really care for the word every because I include *Sally in the realm of every. *Sally is a neighbor of ours. She is 12 and does not speak purposefully. She is profound on the Autism Spectrum. When I saw Souns used successfully on video with a young special needs child, I wondered if it would help her.
For a while, I went to her home almost daily, working 5 minutes a day using Souns. I fumbled my way along, not really knowing what I was doing, but I wanted to see if it helped her. I cannot imagine having a child who I cannot communicate with. Her school only has letter names/ capital letters/ etc. on her IEP that she has shown little progress learning.
She learned to say the first 8 sounds using Souns! Often, she repeated and a few times she offered the sound before I said it. Her mother came to the training when Brenda was here and I’m hopeful she will continue to work with her. I did record my voice saying each sound on a sound board since her mother is uncertain of some sounds as Spanish is her native language.
I did not know if I was getting anywhere, but her mother said I was. She said I did what no speech therapist had done, “get her to say the sounds.” She had never verbally produced some of these sounds before. Will she read? I don’t know. I will not say no, but if there is a path to literacy for her, this is it. The symbol (Braille especially) drew her into “our” world. She focused, made more eye contact, sat still, ticked less, etc. Now, if she made this kind of progress in a few months where schools have gotten virtually nowhere in years. Communication boards did not help her communicate. She never initiated anything. Our goal is to get to a place where she can somehow communicate “hot” or “hurt.” If she can say /h/ /o/ and /t/ maybe we can get to hot.
The point is, I’m not ready to rule *Sally out as a reader. I prefer to avoid the use of absolutes, but I like Brenda, will not sit in front of a child and assume, that the child will never read.
And if there is a path to get there, it is Souns. There is a lot of important work being done right now.
Questioning is fine but constructive responses are appreciated.
Perhaps this is where the 95% idea came from. I’m not certain. Once you have received Souns Training and sit with a child, you will understand the potential. It’s virtually impossible to have the understanding through a computer.
submitted by Della Palacios of SensAble Learning, LLC
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