I feel like I know Gabby GIfford

A few weeks ago, I watched Gabby Giffords talking to congress.  I watched her slowly say each word and think about how to say it.  I watched her pause at times to prepare her mouth to make the sounds.  I was so proud of her for speaking in front of congress and the world, and I wanted to reach through the TV and hug her.  I feel like I know her personally.

Diane Sawyer interviewed Gabby and her husband, Mark Kelly.  They talked about how miraculous her recovery has been, but how she still struggles with speech.  She knows what she wants to say, but has trouble making the words go from her brain to her mouth.  Does this sound familiar?  When Kevin watched the interview with me, we both said, "That's Emma." 

Apraxia is a strange thing.  I had never heard of it when I was teaching school.  In fact, I realize now that a child in our third grade was apraxic, but we didn't know it.  We just knew that we couldn't understand him, and that speech wasn't helping him.  For a long time, doctors wouldn't recognize that Apraxia happened in children.  They felt it was a condition limited to stroke victims who had suffered brain damage.  However, more research has fortunately shed light on this disability and new therapies are being developed to help teach these children to speak. 

When Emma first started speech, the process of teaching her to make every sound in the English language just seemed impossible.  And, as soon as she would learn a new sound, an old sound would slip, so they would have to take a step back and review the skill previously taught.  It was such a long process.  After she had the sounds, then they had to start blending two sounds together, then three.  Then she would practice words.  Then saying two words.  Then short sentences.  For the past 3 years, Emma has been in what I call  the "fine tuning" portion of speech.  They are now trying to take everything she has learned and polish it, make her speech sharper and hopefully, a little clearer. 

She will never sound "normal."  I'm used to her little voice, and I love it.  She wouldn't be Emma without the funny way she talks.  However, sometimes I'll catch her saying something and I'll notice just how different she really sounds.  The children at her school don't really say anything about it - she's Emma.  That's how she talks.  She's a popular little girl with lots of friends, and for the time being, no one seems to care about how she talks.  But in the back of my mind, I worry about when we leave elementary school.  Will they be as kind and understanding in middle school and junior high?  Those places are not known for loving anyone different.

Emma used to get teased in preschool for speech.  I never let her feel sorry for herself.  I always told her, "Everyone has something.  Speech is your thing, and you have to work on that.  But, you have to remember that everyone has something - you  might not notice it, but it's there."  I've noticed that she's grown stronger and more confident over the past two years.  She raises her hand in class, wants parts in plays and even volunteers to read at church.  I'm glad she is not defined by her disability, but is instead strengthened by it. 

Tonight, I'm going to show her Gabby Gifford's speech and talk to her about how she has the same kind of disorder that she has, although because of a different reason.  We'll talk about her courage and how she is a role model to so many people. 

And this little goofball, with her strength and work ethic, is my role model.