I’ve never had my IQ measured. Have you? I’m not going to ask people to share results, but I’m curious as to how many of us have been tested. How about a quick poll? Everybody knows what IQ is: a measure of how smart you are. We use it to measure both ends of the…
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A Julianna primer
First, an introduction to Julianna-speak: Kwawk-wee–chocolate Kee-yoh–carousel Kohl-ee–Nicholas Al-ee–Alex Bah-koh–Michael Bah-ee–Mommy Geepaw Geepaw–Grandpa (or Grandma, or both) wei-ee yah-yee–swim lessons wah bee-bah–watch baby signing times (but it means “movie”) pah-tah–pasta Hah boh-bee–happy birthday hoe-ee–horsie geiger–tiger goggie–dog Beebee Iccshee–Baby Izzie. (Not sure how to put that consonant into letters; it’s in the back and the front…
Read MoreJulianna (a 7QT post)
___1___ The decision was made at the end of last week: Julianna will remain in public schools. I would like to say we made it, but the truth is that the Catholic school decided they simply couldn’t serve her. I was relieved, because for quite some time I’ve been moving toward the conclusion that she…
Read MoreMotherhood, Mostly (a 7QT post)
___1___ I’ve been so busy lately, I just now realized I never shared this! We are running a giveaway of This Little Light of Mine on Goodreads. Six copies available, to be “drawn” by Goodreads on May 1st. Click on over and sign up! ___2___ I think every woman–probably everyone–is well aware that the reproductive…
Read MoreAdventures In Speech Production (and other kid-ness)
Sunday morning, exhausted after weeks of sick kids and bad nights, we decided…gasp!…to sleep in and go to late Mass. So 8:45 a.m found me on the Nordic Track, attempting to multi-task the time as brain-quiet time. I knew better, of course. Julianna stepped lightly into the room in her white-and-purple dress, her boots on…
Read MoreWhat I Learned From A Kindergarten SpEd Re-Eval
About a month ago, Julianna’s school finished her “re-evaluation.” This is required every three years under the IDEA, presumably to ensure that kids who are receiving expensive special ed services still need them. Julianna entered the mid-kindergarten eval with a diagnosis of “young child with developmental delay,” a dx that does not carry into the…
Read MoreOne of THOSE Stories
At eleven p.m. on Sunday night, I was the only one in the house awake. Maybe I was only half awake, but when the screams started from Julianna’s room, I was out of bed and down the hall before she drew her first breath, hoping against hope to get her calmed down before she woke…
Read MoreWhen You Are Raising A Daughter With Special Needs (or: Borrowing Trouble)
It must have been the convergence of James Bond with a bedtime call from my sister, announcing the birth of her first baby, a girl. Maybe it was superimposing the image of her baby upon my own baby girl, no longer a baby, upon the image of the Bond girl, once victim of the sex…
Read MoreJulianna Shows Off
When you’re raising a child with a disability, you have a fine line to walk. You can’t set the bar at an unattainable level; it sets you up for disappointment and frustration, and your child for feeling never good enough. But neither can you set it too low, because we all know kids will live…
Read MoreShe Picked Me
She always picks Daddy–always–so on Wednesday night, when Christian asked Julianna which parent she wanted to take her down to “church school” (religious ed), I rolled my eyes and wondered why he bothered. She didn’t answer at all, and we went about the craziness of clearing dinner and getting kids rounded up for the weekly…
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Kathleen M. Basi 