Finding Her Voice

Today is Olivia's last day of seventh grade. It's been a great year for her, even with Covid and masks and one 'close contact' quarrantine.

She's had an incredible team working with her at school. Other than preschool, when her teacher was kind of a bitch, she’s had excellent teachers since she started at our tiny, rural school.

Every teacher, though, has struggled to get Olivia to speak in class. They’ve all managed to get her to whisper in response to a direct question but none have managed to get her to use anything above a whisper…until now.

Her current teacher and aide, Mrs. H and Ms. P, have both worked hard this year to try and get Olivia to use her voice.

While it could very much be Olivia’s maturity and social growth that has brought about this monumental event, I do give Mrs. H and Ms. P credit too.

One day after school and work, Olivia told me that she answered a question from Mrs. H in her normal voice. I asked her what she said and she told me she said, “Yes.”

It was one word but it was said at a normal volume, not a whisper. She said that Mrs. H and Ms. P were the only ones in the classroom with her and so she’d felt comfortable to answer the question.

I high fived her and gave her a hug, exclaiming how proud I was of her and how excited I was for her.

A few days later, she reported that Mrs. H hadn’t been at school that day but at the end of the day, Ms. P had asked Olivia if she’d answer a few questions from her classmates in her normal voice. Olivia agreed to try.

This time there were just two other students in the classroom with O and Ms. P so it wasn’t as if she were ‘performing’ for the entire class. Again, she said she just answered the questions with yes or no or used other one-word answers. But still, this was a big step.

She’s steadily increased the number of words she’ll give as an answer to questions but she’s speaking…out loud…to her teachers and classmates.

The most recent celebration was when she told me she talked to her other aide, Mrs. B. This woman has worked with Olivia since first grade. Olivia said Mrs. B asked her if she could hug her when she (Olivia) spoke aloud to her. Olivia practically preened with pride at this.

I love her team. I love that they’re so proud of her and making her proud of herself. I love that they’ve never once given up on her.

Her teacher recently sent me an email telling me proudly that Olivia spoke out loud to her speech therapist. This is another woman who has worked with Olivia since kindergarten. She’s never been one to give an inch where O is concerned. She’s known all along that Olivia was capable of more than she was giving. She was determined to be more stubborn that Olivia.

We’re getting there. She’s fourteen and still making amazing progress. I don’t think we ever know our true potential. We all have to keep working as hard as we can to do and be better. Let’s all try and be like Olivia, always improving, always getting better, always reaching farther.

She’s my hero, my inspiration.