HOPE…What Every Parent Wants
Every single parent you’ll encounter today, tomorrow, this week, and next year is looking for the SAME thing…
HOPE.
They all want hope.
Hope that whatever is going on with their child will get better.
Hope that you have answers they don’t.
Don’t believe me?
Then start listening to what parents say…
“I’ve told my pediatrician for months that my child is not saying very much, and he keeps telling me he’s not concerned.” (Meaning… I hope there’s nothing wrong.)
“My friend’s little girl is saying way more than my son is, but I know he’s a boy and that all kids are different.” (Meaning… Please give me hope that he’ll catch up!)
“Do you think my kid will ever talk?” (Meaning… Is there any hope?)
HOPE is powerful for parents.
It overcomes negativity, helplessness, and even fear.
It overrides that voice within us, and sometimes, those loud voices around us!
As therapists, I believe one of our most important jobs is helping parents learn to hear the sheer relief that hope can bring above all the other noise.
Now, in case your outlook leans a little on the cynical side these days…
I’m not talking about hope in the sense of false hope, delusional fantasies, or even patronizing placates like the things parents of late talkers hear continuously…
“Einstein talked late.”
“My neighbor told me his child didn’t talk until he was 7 and now he’s a doctor.”
or even worse…
“You’re overreacting. Forget about it and he’ll talk one day when he’s ready.”
I mean realistic hope.
Hope that’s entirely believable.
Hope that speaks these kinds of messages…
Instead of “No,” hope says, “Maybe.”
Instead of “Quit,” hope says, “Try again.”
Instead of “This won’t work either,” hope says, “It could.”
I want to be the kind of person who speaks hope.
Not only for my little clients and their families, but for me too!
Life’s disappointments are much easier to handle when you can see past your current circumstances.
Hope helps you get there.
I want to be that kind of person.
An ambassador of hope.
A beacon of hope.
A voice of hope.
I bet you do too!
We offer lots of hope for parents at teachmetotalk.com. If you haven’t recommended teachmetotalk.com‘s resources for your families, I’ll be sending out a tool tomorrow to help you do that!
Need some help tonight? Our best resources list.
Laura
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Happy Therapists, Teachers, Parents & Children
"I just want to thank you for the invaluable information you’ve given me in helping my grandson to talk (which I have passed on to his parents). We’ve ve learned patience, appropriate expectations, and fun and effective strategies that we had found no where else. He is exploding with conversation! Sometimes I struggle to interpret his articulation, but all I have to do is say, “Show me”, and he’s excited to do so. He and I both want so badly to communicate with each other, and your strategies have made it so much easier and non-threatening. Once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Stacey
"My little guy is taking off like a rocket!! We’ve been working through your Autism Workbook for a few months and he has had an explosion of skills develop. YOU are AMAZING! THANK YOU!" Laura Q, Mom
"Dear Laura Mize and Team,
Thank you so much for all your hard work and publishing books! Our 17-month-old toddler suddenly exploded into speaking and imitating everybody's gestures and sounds, just a week or two after we 'completed' all activities that are listed under 11 pre-linguistic skills! Your method really works!"
Grateful customer.
"Hi Laura!
I absolutely LOVE all of your workbooks, especially your Autism Workbook. Starting with Social Games has been a game changer for many of my littles with ASD and their families. It's been the best way for them to finally connect and sustain shared attention and engagement, leading to longer social interactions, through play!"
Jodie, Dev, Therapist
"Hi Ms. Laura,
Thank you so much for the videos you have posted on your youtube channel. They are so direct, informative, and helpful. Thank you for being a resource for me to become a better therapist."
Dianne
"Gosh, I love all of your emails/podcast/website, just everything!! I work in early intervention as a behavior analyst and am learning so much from you!"
Thank you!
Hailey
"Laura,
I love your work! I am a professor of early childhood special education and a speech language pathologist! I have worked to help children learn to communicate and I know how valuable the information you share is for both early interventionists and pediatric speech language pathologists!
Thank you for systematically organizing and explaining essential steps for young children to learn and develop. You are having a great impact on our profession, the ECE profession and families!"
Sincerely,
David
"Thank you.
If this is Laura herself reading this email let me take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have put forth for us professionals. I own every manual (except the autism manual) and have watched every course on DVD. I have listened to countless podcasts. All of what I’ve come to be as an Early Intervention speech therapist was absolutely to your credit. With your resources at my side I have never needed to scramble for answers and strategies and above all the clear language I use when communicating with parents. My fun, animated affect and key phrases I use have been learned through watching your example. So….thank you! May you be blessed."
Chaya
"I just wanted to thank you so much for your incredible help! You are so kind and lovely and every time I implement something you've taught in your manuals or videos it is always a success, I cannot thank you enough. I really appreciate how specific you are in giving us examples of wording to use and how to use a toy in therapy with your videos, it is exactly what I need to properly help my little students. I also really appreciate your list of books of list of toys. I have seen my little students make significant progress thanks to you. I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos, taking more of your CEU's, and reading more of your materials. From the bottom of my heart: thank you so much again!!"
Lauren
Laura thank you so much. Btw, you have transformed my therapy- I have become such a competent and strong therapist after watching probably like 350 of your videos and podcasts over the past few years. And I am a seasoned therapist with almost 25 years experience. (Yes prob 350 episodes ha!) But there was still a lot I learned from you. I have such a thorough understanding of birth to 3 development and how to properly incorporate appropriate therapeutic goals, techniques and strategies now, thanks to you. Kelly
