While our journey with Kourtney and Rett University just started, it has been nothing short of mind-blowing thus far. When the schools shut down in March, with no return in sight, I was determined to continue to push Jiselle and prep her for Kindergarten in the fall. However, with a finance and accounting background, I had a momentary freak out on how I was actually going to accomplish this. I also felt I needed some expert advice from those who know Rett kiddos inside and out in order to make progress with her eye gaze device. Rett University has always been on my radar, but for whatever reason, I never reached out. After chatting with another Rett mama and Rett University continuing to pop up on Instagram promoting remote consults, I finally reached out. Reaching out has honestly been the best decision I have made, for not only Jiselle but all of us at home. I made the decision to meet with Kourtney every other week virtually since we began our journey, giving me time to implement and practice at home. Kourtney is able to not only get into Jiselle’s device but with me sitting right there with Jiselle and Kourtney, it allows me to ask questions and further educate myself on how I can help Jiselle at home. We changed a lot of what we were working on at home and in her speech therapy, and while it was scary for me, I had to have faith in what Kourtney was recommending. After two months, we have seen amazing progress with Jiselle. She is actively looking at her talker and continuing to explore all the buttons. She is showing more interest in her talker than she has in the past. The introduction of the yes/no cards has made the biggest difference for us, and it actually allows Jiselle to have a voice and make choices. I think the best part of all of this is that it is flowing over into her other therapies. Her SLP has been amazing at taking all of these changes and continuing to work on them weekly. She even made yes/no cards for the other therapists we work with at the clinic. While doing things virtually may be challenging, I have actually loved it even in our weekly therapies because it forces me to implement what we have learned at home. I have seen no difference in Kourtney getting to know Jiselle, or Jiselle getting to know Kourtney. Jiselle is actually more engaged with Kourtney than she is with me at home, even if it is over the computer. The other benefit for me is that it is more cost-effective than having Kourtney fly to Nashville one time. I am so thankful I made the decision to reach out to Kourtney, as I truly feel we can set Jiselle up for success as she starts Kindergarten in the fall. I wish I would have done it sooner, but even though I didn’t, I am excited to see the progress Jiselle makes in the next two months.
The Rewards of Rett U Remote Consults
