Yesterday, I found myself working at home and was able to accompany Mary Elizabeth to her speech therapy appointment at the local university.  She’s been going to the speech department there for about a year, and while I’ve gone with her to some of the group activities, I’ve never been to an individual speech therapy appointment with her.  This wonderful place provides services for people who have speech issues and expressive aphasia (difficulty in finding the right words for things) as well as training for future speech and language therapists.

I’ve noticed a significant improvement in Mary Elizabeth’s speech and aphasia since she began the program, and she’s very enthusiastic about going four times a week – twice to individual therapy appointments like yesterday, once to a group discussion with fellow aphasia patients and once to a 4-hour program with lunch, discussions, movies, book clubs and games, also for aphasia patients.

The first thing I noticed yesterday was that there were a number of patients walking around with quad canes, and that particular gait that stroke patients like Mary Elizabeth have.  The second thing was that as soon as we entered the room, she was warmly greeted by staff and patients alike.  I was introduced to everybody, most of whom said that they knew all about me already.  It was really heartwarming.

After a few minutes’ wait, we walked down a long hall to one of the therapy rooms, which had round tables and several chairs.  A therapist and a graduate student sat down with Mary Elizabeth, and I was escorted to the observation room (behind a mirror in the wall).  It felt very “Law and Order” to me – except for all the speech and phonics materials piled high on a bookshelf.

I watched for an hour as Mary Elizabeth exercised her mouth and tongue while looking in a mirror.  She practiced sounds that are difficult for her – like the “r” sound in car or park.  She read out loud while being videotaped and then watched the video back and corrected problems.  All the while, she was so good-natured and cheerful that it was easy to see why everybody loved her so much.  I sat behind that one-way glass, so proud of her and so thankful that after all she’s been through, she can sit and work so hard to regain her speech.  At several points the supervisor came in and commented on how well Mary Elizabeth was doing, and how hard she worked.  That’s the Mary Elizabeth we all know!

It’s so easy to lose perspective when you only see one side of people.  Both Mary Elizabeth and I were amazed when we would visit our kids’ classrooms when they were younger and watch them interact with other kids and their teachers.  We felt the same pride and love I think that I felt yesterday during the therapy session.

As we turned in our driveway, I noticed that a dozen or so daffodils (which I planted 12 years ago) are in bloom already – an appropriate reflection of how I was feeling after going to speech therapy with Mary Elizabeth.