Text V a parent's view of a speech impairment

Task 1. Read the text for detail.

Task 2. Make up an annotation of the text.

Gloria E. Enlow is the mother of two daughters, now ages 25 and 30. Divorced when the children were 5 and 10 years of age. Mrs. Enlow raised them on her own for five years, until her remarriage. The younger daughter, Samantha Reid, has cerebral palsy. Mrs. Enlow tells her family's story:

Communication is not something that I was thinking about as I held my baby daughter for the first time. As she looked at me with those big, bright brown eyes, though, I knew there was something different about her. She cried a lot, had trouble sucking and chewing, was quite stiff, and startled easily. As time went on and she was not able to sit unassisted or hold objects by herself, my anxiety heightened. Finally, at 18 months of age, she was diagnosed as having cerebral palsy. Samantha's condition is the result of lack of oxygen at birth, causing-brain damage, which, for her, means lack of muscle control, including the larynx and tongue. The latter translates into labored and, often, unintelligible speech.

Relieved to know just what the problem was, we launched into a regimen of physical, occupational, and speech therapy, which continued through high school. Even though Samantha had special problems, we always treated her as just another member of the family, and she fully participated in everything from sledding to religious ceremonies. She was beautiful, happy, well adjusted, and developed a positive self-image. Her own personal desire to be involved in as many normal activities as possible prompted me, her teachers, and school administrators to act as advocates to maximize her potential and tap that obvious intelligence, which was masked by her lack of spontaneous, articulate speech.

We were fortunate that stable and well-established special education programs were in place by the time Samantha was ready for first grade. Even so, I had to search constantly for the proper care, services, and equipment to help her. A major goal was to enhance her speaking capability. As a result, an administrator and speech therapist identified her first augmentative communication device. By age 10, she had learned to program and use the Autocom, which had a digital display, and printout capability. This aid made it easier for her to be integrated into her first regular academic class, a major accomplishment for all of us. Although Samantha liked and appreciated her special education classmates and teachers, she did not want to operate in an isolated environment.

As Samantha's integration increased, people realized that she had academic ability.

From reading this story, you may have the impression that Samantha's life and my life were ordered. But that is not the case. I have not discussed my sustained efforts to identify sources of support and necessary resources. I joined committees, councils, and advocacy groups to learn what options and programs were available and to take part in influencing their direction. For many years, I wrote Samantha's dictated answers to homework assignments, spent countless hours at the library, and was intimately involved in her progression of study to assure that she would meet college enrollment requirements. A full-time aide was authorized for high school only after many sessions with numerous levels of school officials. Samantha is considered to be a unique case because of her intelligence and accomplishments despite multiple disabilities. She is determined to earn her degree, live independently, and earn a living.

(D.D. Smith. Types of speech impairments. From introduction to special education. Teaching in Age of Challenge. – University of New Mexico, 1998.)