As early interventionists people look at us as providing a service to help others but have you ever stopped to count the blessings we receive from the families we “help?” Join me, if you will, in recognizing the big and small blessings we often forget to count.
Seeing the world: Many people do their daily 9-5 in one place, looking at the same four walls every day. We get to watch the seasons change, see the flowers bloom, the corn tassel, and the farm animals grow. We feel the sun on our skin between every stop and the fresh air (sometimes polar air) on our faces many times a day.
One with Nature: Early intervention works within family’s everyday activities. In what other job can you play in a treehouse, teach language while cooking breakfast over an open fire, swing on swings and slide down slides in order to enhance family interactions, and problem solve with parents while you are out on their daily walk to the store.
Emergency Preparedness: If we have car trouble, we often have a report to write or some phone calls we can make while we wait for the tow truck. If we get stuck in the mud or snow in someone’s driveway we carry our lunches and water supply with us every day.
Multi-tasking: Some of us may carry our shopping lists with us so if we need to grab something for dinner that night we can swing into the Save-a-Lot for a minute in between visits.
Portability: Our office is our car and our desk is a file folder and a backpack.
Furry Friends: Many families live on farms or have fur-babies that are just as much a part of the family as the human-babies. We go out and pet the horses, call for the dog, feed the kitty, or even look for the lizard that got loose last night as a way to practice crawling. These furry friends begin to look forward to our visits as much as the family does, or should I say we look forward to seeing the furry friends as much as we look forward to seeing the family each week.
Progress: Simply stated, it is pure joy when you teach something one week and the next week the family can’t wait to show you or tell you how they practiced and practiced and MASTERED this new skill.
Information sharing: Not only do we get to share what we know with families, but we develop relationships and families teach us as well. We have learned about a medicine prescribed for our pet from the mom who works as a veterinary technician, found out why our car was making that noise from the auto mechanic daddy, got a great recipe during a mealtime session, or simply felt better about a challenge in our lives because a family was experiencing that very same struggle.
Friendships: In early intervention we are taught that it is all about the relationship you establish with a family. We talk about it as part of the job but it truly is more than a job. People open up their homes to us, welcome us into their world, share their struggles and successes, and genuinely enhance our own lives just because we have been given the chance to know them. Each and every family holds a special place in our hearts from the first time we walk through that door, to the time we see their child “graduate” into the big kid world. Even better, if you happen to live in their community, you get to see them grow, succeed, and perhaps even “graduate” into the grown up world!
Kids, kids, kids: Most likely you became an early interventionist because you love children. You love to watch them grow and learn, you love to listen to them laugh, you love to hear them talk, and you love to help them learn to love exploring and experiencing this wonderful world. BUT, little did you know that those little giggles, tiny pitter pats, and those amazing little noggins squirm their way into your heart and mind. You smile during dinner because you thought about that silly game they initiated with their daddy. You dream at night about them learning a skill that their mama has been helping them perfect for months. Sometimes, on a bad day, you go to see a kiddo and they turn your day around. You leave that house thankful for that one tiny hug, that sloppy kiss, that pride seen in mama’s smile, and that bond you have with that special family.
When you start your day, look at your schedule in a way that turns the routine into a memory, that goal into an opportunity, and that family into a friend.
This post was provided by Dana Lepien, a speech therapist with the Ionia ISD early intervention program.
