Comments for MERLD World

Comment on Cranking Up the Experience Level by Marycelis

Marycelis — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:33:54 +0000

my son a little over 2.5 years old was just diagnosed with MERLD as well as autism spectrum disorder. I feel so confused and sad. I knew he had a speech delay but didn’t realize the magnitude. I thought after a few early intervention classes, he’d be okay and talking our heads off. He’s been in early intervention since 18 months but his vocabulary has been slow and inconsistent. He’ll say open, juice, and go when prompted but other than that its like he doesn’t remember anything else he’s learned. It saddens me. I want my baby to talk to me. How soon after therapy is there noticeable improvement.

Comment on About me by Carmen

Carmen — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:04:20 +0000

Dear Rebecca,
I have just stumbled upon this site and my heart is racing, my head spinning. I have a daughter, adopted from China, and from the moment I received her paper work I knew there was some type of delay in her speech. She was 11 months at the time. Fast forward to now, she is 11 years old. After many years of speech therapy, privately and in school and thousands of dollars in testing, again, privately and in school. I finally was able to achieve an IEP for her. All these years, I have never received a clear diagnosis of her problem. I had a psychologist tell me she had ADD and recommended medication. Medication was never an option. I know my child and I know her problems were deeper than attention deficit. When your child is unable to retain information, even with something as simple as a person’s name, after you have told it to them over and over again, and a minute later she forgets, something is going on. I have been told she has auditory processing problems, etc, etc. She has always tested in the average and low-average range. Like many of you, it was by chance that I stumbled upon the diagnosis of MERLD. Wow, the skies just opened up for me. This is exactly what Lily has!
My daughter finally received extra help in school in the form of resource classes last year, and she did ok. I found that the school pushed her along and overlooked some deficiencies, simply because there are too many children to service. After a full day of school, tutoring 2 days a week and tennis another 2 days a week, by the time we sat down to do homework, I felt like I was sitting across an empty vat. Her eyes glazed over as we tried to study or review. Her little brain could not take in any more information. As a result, I decided to homeschool her and will do so possibly throughout her school years. This has been the best option for our family and for Lily. I am also looking into some possible intensive therapy such as the Lindamood Bell program (any suggestions?)
My new quest is to find the right therapy for my child, as I have yet to find definitive help for children of Lily’s age. Most of the sites I have found are for early intervention.

Comment on What is MERLD? by Jmama

Jmama — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:55:42 +0000

My Daughter has been diagnosed with Merld she is now 10. I was wondering what kind of behavior problems you guys experience with your children? And if they improve?

Comment on Cranking Up the Experience Level by Leah

Leah — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:08:24 +0000

My 5 year old daughter was diagnosed a little over 1 year ago with Severe MERLD. Life has always been a struggle and now, putting myself in her shoes it must be so frustrating. It is so hard for me, as she has started Kindergarden this year and i am constantly concerned for her. I still cant have a detailed conversation with her about school. When i ask her what she done at school when i pick her up she replies with ‘learning and working’. We are going through Therapy atm and she has picked up and come along way but language and understanding is still delayed. She is the most sweet and outgoing little girl which is to her advantage but her language and understanding is still suffering. I am exhausted as i constantly talk to her and ask her questions and give her instructions and must have the most patience with teaching her things. I feel as though i have to speak to her totally different now she has been diagnosed.. It is so hard for any parent to see their children struggle. I feel as though i am suffering abit of depression as i am constantly wishing she would be ok and i am letting it take over my mind. I am just not sure what to do anymore as i only do what the therapist recommends, but until you live with a child that has MERLD its not easy at all.

Comment on About me by Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:52:35 +0000

Hi-
I have been trying to find more information about MERLD. My 6 and a half year old was just diagnosed with a mild form. I have known for years something has been off. She speaks well, but her performance and intelligence don’t add up. She has had these meltdowns that unlike other children get WORSE with age. I know it is all related. And I knew in my gut something was off. She is receiving speech privately now. I am trying to figure out the best way to get the school on board. Her teacher is very supportive, but doesn’t seem to get it. She says she doesn’t like reading or that she just takes longer. She does take longer, but its not because of an intelligence thing. Because it is a mild case and she has no issues at school (saves it for home, holds it together all day)… I am not sure how to proceed. The only thing I can think of was that on her OWLS she was low average in 2 sub scales but above average (significantly) in written expressive… could this be the springing point? Do you have any suggestions?

Comment on Reading IS Fundamental by Kristine Ohaechesi

Kristine Ohaechesi — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:58:16 +0000

I found an affordable online program that helped my son read in less than a year! Click’n Read from Click’n Kids taught my son phonetics and reading. It was amazing!!! And we did not do all the required offline reading (I had just had a baby). Most days I have him write what he learned to read to help remember and practice writing skills. He would not learn from me but the computer he did willingly. I learned phonetics from this too! LOL It took him from Kindergarten to Third grade level reading – in 15 minutes a day. I cannot say enough great things about this program!!!!! Easy to use, can repeat lessons as much as desired and NOT expensive AT ALL!!!

Comment on What is MERLD? by Julia Graves

Julia Graves — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:31:53 +0000

I can’t thank you enough for this site. I no longer feel alone trying desperately to help my daughter with her MERLD. She was diagnosed at age 5, and at age 12, still struggles. I thought for years she was autistic, and others tried to convince me that she was. Her school and pediatrician have provided little help in understanding this disability. It has been a struggle since 1st grade, and I have fought and fought to get her the proper intervention that she needs. I really appreciate Alexandra sharing her experience. It helps me to better understand my sweet daughter, Wish I could get some teachers to understand MERLD.

Comment on Martin Luther King Jr Day by Maggie Lesure

Maggie Lesure — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:58:57 +0000

I won't be able to thank you fully for the articles on your web-site. I know you'd put a lot of time and energy into all of them and hope you know how much I appreciate it. I hope I could do the same for someone else sometime. Welcome to my blog investment advisor.

Comment on iPad Apps by Cheryl Hosmer

Cheryl Hosmer — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:44:35 +0000

Thank you so much for the kind words! I sure wish that I could take all the credit, Jenny! A wonderful speech-language professional went above and beyond to compile this list for me to post on MERLD World.

Comment on iPad Apps by Jenny Bell

Jenny Bell — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:18:05 +0000

WOW Cie! These are all great! I have some already for my husband and daughter, but I’m going to download more tonight! Thank you so much for all of your hard work that you do for the MERLD community! It is greatly appricated!

Jenny Bell