Putting It All Together: Project ImPACT

With the holidays coming, and school soon being done until next year, we won't have another visit from Early On until January.  That visit, however, is going to be both nerve-wracking and exciting.  We're going to learn about Lyric's IEP (Individual Education Plan). 

A recent bout of changes in our course with Lyric began when Melissa attended a conference about an MSU (Michigan State University for you out of towners) program called Project ImPACT.  While it is mostly used for children with autism, Melissa believes that Lyric would be an ideal candidate because of her skills being so splintered.  She made it very clear that she does not suspect Lyric has autism, she just thinks that the program would be an excellent fit for our family as a whole. The "ImPACT" stands for Improving Parents as Communication Teachers.  Not only will it create a better environment for Lyric to learn, but it will give us better tools to help teach her when we don't have therapy sessions. 

By agreeing to do Project ImPACT, we will be able to get one on one therapy for Lyric for two hours each week.  She will work with Melissa on her speech, and we will have an Occupational Therapist coming to show us what sorts of things we can do to help facilitate a structured "sensory diet" for her.  (A sensory diet is a series of structured play activities for Lyric to take part in each day that will help continuously satisfy her sensory needs.)  In addition to the therapies, we will be receiving training on how we can supplement and continue all of this learning by ourselves.  

The training lasts for 12 weeks, and includes the following topics:

·         Set up your home for success

·         Follow your child’s lead

·         Imitate your child

·         Animation

·         Modeling and expanding language

·         Playful obstruction

·         Balanced turns

·         Communicative temptations

·         Prompting and reinforcement

·         Teaching your child expressive language

·         Teaching your child receptive language

·         Teaching your child social imitation

·         Teaching your child play

·          Putting it all together

The great thing about all of this is that if she doesn't make enough improvements by the time she turns 3, she will qualify for a special preschool that will continue the teachings, at no cost to us.   

For the past few weeks we have been going through the process of re-evaluating her skills to get a baseline of where they need to start with the program.  It has been somewhat exciting, but it is stressful at the same time.  In order to begin the program, we had to "sign her up" for special education.  There's a lot of stigma attached to "special ed." in America, so it has been something that is difficult to accept for us as parents.  However, as I continually say, this is all for Lyric.  

By getting Early Intervention, there is a much better chance that she will be able to make improvements, learn, and grow to the point where none of this will be an issue for her by the time she starts school.  It sort of helps "reverse" the effects and take her to the point of being a typical kid.  Even if this doesn't happen, we will be able to learn things for ourselves to help ensure that she has a successful future, no matter what.  This is why I would encourage anyone who thinks that something may be delayed in their child to contact Early Intervention specialists as soon as possible.  Denial isn't going to do anything for your child, and the sooner you call - the sooner your child can receive vital help they may need.  Early assistance can help make a world of difference.