S07.E10: Just What the Doctor Ordered

[Guest]

Will has his weekly speech therapy; Zoey gets basic health screenings; Jen sees a physical therapist to improve her strength.

 

 

[Lillybee]

It was nice seeing Will getting along so well with the speech therapist. On the other hand, poor Zoey that blood draw had to be painful.

Jen was so adorable as a high school cheerleader. Good for her to be able to do 100 pushup in a minute. The park scenes were adorable but I think that Jen enjoyed it the most.

[jodo]

OMG Will clearly loves going to speech therapy and loves his therapist.  He tries so hard and saying I want cookie in a sentence was so appropriate!  I wish she had told us more about why Will chops off the first few letters of words (or any kid for that matter) as Bill referred to and we have heard many times.  He is such a smart boy and deserves to be treated that way when he starts school (or any other time).  I am glad he gets homework and it appeared to be speaking in sentences like he had done in therapy.  I do think the homework was distracting with Zoey there doing it too.  It is great they use the same tools with her but I don't think she is behind and Will deserves their full attention.  Will was either distracted because of that and/or he was just tired of doing it and needed a break.  Will may also work better with Bill's patient manner rather than Jen's level of intensity which comes across in her voice.  

 

Poor Zoey or any little person who has trouble having blood taken.  I did not know that about their veins.  They never really said what the purpose of the blood being drawn was or did I miss it?  Are they checking for her type of dwarfism with these tests?  Zoey is a finger sucker!!!  She self soothes with them and has from the get go.  I guess Bill and Jen didn't believe in using soothers/pacifiers instead of thumbs or fingers or they have never said anything about that.  I do notice Will is not sucking his thumb as much if at all at least that was shown...YAY WILL!!  I'm a big boy!!

 

It was nice they checked out parks for the disabled and was hard to believe there was one that was not accessible by foot from the parking lot realistically!  It does bring to mind though how they could have built an area in their own yard for this purpose when they were building their dream home and knew they would eventually have 2 children with dwarfism.  Going to a park is great too but it necessitates both parents being available and a car ride.  How many times did we hear "careful" at the park?!?  It is supposed to be safe for kids with disabilities, LET THEM PLAY!  And yes Will doesn't seem to like to share nor did I think Bill's response was teaching him anything...he just avoided a Will meltdown if he stepped in to get Will to share.  Instead he took the easy route and told Will no big deal it will be there when you are done or something.  He allowed Will to go and take it back so Will learns that is how it is done?  Will should know better coming from an orphanage I would think.   

Edited May 7, 2014 by jodo

[DkNNy79]

I swear Will is the cutest kid ever.  I loved watching his speech therapy class.  He seems to really like his teacher Anna.  I hope they will show us more scenes like this as he progresses with his speech.  Will definitely understands everything that they say to him, its just getting those words out.

 

My favorite scene from last night was a scene from the "Will goes to work at the Pet Shop episode" that was previously not show.  Bill is laying on his stomach yelling "William where are your shoes" and Will yells "Daddy" while running to Bill with his shoes in his hand.  Too adorable.

 

Poor Zoey.  I hate needles to this day.  I feel bad for the nurses, it must not be fun trying to draw blood from children, especially when you can't find a vein.

[all4mom]

"100 pushups a minute"?  I call fakety-fake.  Is there a reason why it must always be Bill with Will and Jen with Zoey?  Is it because she's small enough for Jen to be able to lift, turn, carry, and control her every move (although she sent the poor kid down the slide with her legs doing the SPLITS; good thing Zoey is so limber, or that could've been a problem) or simply because Jen -- news flash! -- has always wanted a daughter NAMED ZOEY with whom to do "girly" things?  The pairing off is getting to be a regular thing.  What happened to the all- important "Mommy and Will Time"?  Of course Jen has to clamber onto the examination table with Zoey, because ONLY SHE can comfort her; Zoey wants to be with her ALL THE TIME, don't you know!  Also love the Mother's Day promo: Cake Boss, Say Yes to the Dress, Long Island Medium all pay homage to their mothers, saying something sentimental and personal about THEM.  Jen: "I hope *I* can be as good a mom."  And naturally again the obligatory mention of cancer and JUST finishing chemotherapy and the competitiveness showing through once again, even against her own performance in PT.  Yes, Jen; it's all about you; always!  In previews: another appearance on Dr. Oz (keep going, Jen; you're getting close to having your own TV show) and Bill's Mom finally gets to visit, but where's the rest of the family?  And, yes, he WAS very close to them all at one time; he mentions it in past episodes and it was clear from their interaction.

Edited May 7, 2014 by all4mom

[Bella]

You can make your point without shouting.

[all4mom]

Oh, and Zoey and Will were adorable, but that goes without saying; they sure hit the jackpot with the adopted kids!

Edited May 7, 2014 by all4mom

[Bella]

Still shouting. Stop it.

[mojito]

 

Of course Jen has to clamber onto the examination table with Zoey, because ONLY SHE can comfort her

I may be going out on a limb here, but I think Jen clambered onto the examination table because she's a mother. We tend to be like that.

Edited May 7, 2014 by mojito

[4leafclover]

Almost everything Jen did in that episode is because she is a mother!  And yes, I would have climbed on the examination table if I could when my children were having blood drawn or given injections.  Fortunately for me, I didn't need to because I could reach them and assure them from where I stood, which Jen clearly could not do.  I am equally guilty of constantly telling my grands "careful" when we go to the park, I even say that to my grown sons!  Once a mommy, always a mommy--its how we roll.  If anything, this episode was successful in showing us that Bill and Jen are trying (and succeeding IMO) in doing everything that average size parents do.  Good for them!  

 

Will and Zoey make me want to adopt a child--if I wasn't past my child rearing years, I might consider it (another success that Bill and Jen are accomplishing)!

[MrMattyMatt]

Loved this episode!

 

Seeing Will at the speech therapist was great.  I am sure he will improve fast, the therapist seemed very good. 

 

Bill stated that the kids will go to "school" in fall.  Arent they just a bit too young?  He must mean daycare or pre-school, right?  It will be good for them to get out and socialize with other children.

 

Poor Zoey.  I have veins that are hard to find as well so I know what it's like when they have to "dig" for them.  I can't imagine going through that at 2 years old. 

 

The only bad part was having to see Jen Arnold MD brag about being a cheerleader.  Couldn't TLC dig up a video of her and the team.  Now that would be entertainment!

[Absolom]

It's probably pre-school that they'll be attending although Will will be turning five next year.  I think his birthday is past the cut off so he'll be doing something like K-4 or junior kindergarten.

[minx]

Yes, Will will be 4 1/2 in the fall so he'll old enough to go to preschool; Zoey will be approaching 3 and, that, too, is old enough to have some kind of low key school experience. Will's speech will hopefully improve even more before he goes to school. I can just imagine Zoey in preschool--she'll probably love it.

[mojito]

I was happy to see that Will had no separation anxiety when he parted company with his parents and went off with the therapist. A big smile and a wave and "Bye, bye."

[Absolom]

Ratings last night: 2.535 M viewers and a .7 rating.

[roamyn]

"I ride...duck"!

I ♡ Will so much!

But shouldn't the phrase have been "I want Cake!" Instead of cookie? LOL

[4leafclover]

 

But shouldn't the phrase have been "I want Cake!" Instead of cookie? LOL

 

Maybe she was trying to divert his attention!

[Lillybee]

I thought that she was working on getting Will to say the "oo" sound that he seemed to have trouble with.

[Kohola3]

I work in the ER and it's difficult to keep a mom from climbing up on the stretcher with her child.  I don't often see that with the dads.  Jen did was entirely a natural think to do for most moms.

[MrMattyMatt]

Her climbing and comforting did seem to help! 

[jnymph]

Poor Zoey, it makes me sad to think they have to struggle to find her little veins. :(

After it was over, I loved when she went to Bill and he said something like "The magic of Baba." LOL

Can Will possibly be any cuter? That kid makes me smile and laugh till my face hurts.

Jen Arnold loves her family. I think she's being the best wife and mother she can be. I didn't take her cheerleader / push up comments as braggimg. It was context - she was referring to her physical well being.

[mbutterfly]

Poor Zoey, it makes me sad to think they have to struggle to find her little veins. :(

After it was over, I loved when she went to Bill and he said something like "The magic of Baba." LOL

Can Will possibly be any cuter? That kid makes me smile and laugh till my face hurts.

Jen Arnold loves her family. I think she's being the best wife and mother she can be. I didn't take her cheerleader / push up comments as braggimg. It was context - she was referring to her physical well being.

 One of my daughters was extremely small in 7th grade. (Now she's 5'1" and just petite, but then she was as small as some third graders). Besides gymnastics, cheerleading was the only sport she could do well. I can't imagine Jen having been able to compete at all in other sports so cheerleading seems a natural for her. 

[4leafclover]

I think we're made privy to their childhood as part of the process of learning that little people can and do much of what average size people do.  I for one did not know that gymnastics or cheerleading was something a little person could do.  They've both said that educating viewers on these things is one reason why they do the show.  

[jodo]

 

I for one did not know that gymnastics or cheerleading was something a little person could do.

 

Of course little people can be athletic, kids are.

[4leafclover]

Kids don't typically have the medical issues that little people have. 

[JunebugTx]

 

I work in the ER and it's difficult to keep a mom from climbing up on the stretcher with her child.  I don't often see that with the dads.  Jen did was entirely a natural think to do for most moms.

 

Agreed!  I have a child with medical issues that have necessitated many blood draws over the years.  I don't have to hold his hand now (he's 15), but when he was little I did as much hand holding as I could for blood draws and other uncomfortable medical procedures.

[Viqutorious]

Her mom is a neonatologist, I think she knows how important to comfort a child in distress. If she was average stature would you criticzize her for sitting on the exam table with her daughter? I think most moms have done this.

Their kids are both adorable and they seem super normal. She gets rave reviews on yelp when she was a resident in Pittsburgh.

[Bella]

Ratings last night: 2.535 M viewers and a .7 rating.

 

Would the group like a ratings thread so you can have all the week-by-week info together? Some forums do it like that, and others do it by episode like you've done it so far.

[Kohola3]

I think by episode is fine. 

[mbutterfly]

I probably will read it more readily if it is by episode. 

[LazyToaster]

I vote episode too.

FYI, I've also found the My Shows feature helpful.

[MrMattyMatt]

"My Shows" is a great feature!!

[Bella]

Okay, we'll leave the ratings discussion in the episode threads. 

 

My Shows really is a great feature. One thing you might want to do is occasionally check the New Shows Just Added thread http://forums.previously.tv/topic/3475-new-show-forums-just-added/ to see if anything else of interest has been added. And you can always request new shows yourself.

[constantknot]

I'm a pediatric speech-language pathologist so I especially loved this episode! Sooo fun seeing a therapy session on TV. She was using lots of tactile (like dragging her finger down her arm to signify the 'ssssss' sound) and visual cues (touching her throat) to help Will remember to use various sounds. Yay! As a clinician, I would have been so nervous to have a session taped - sometimes they go smoothly, sometimes they don't! ;) 

 

 

OMG Will clearly loves going to speech therapy and loves his therapist.  He tries so hard and saying I want cookie in a sentence was so appropriate!  I wish she had told us more about why Will chops off the first few letters of words (or any kid for that matter) as Bill referred to and we have heard many times.  

 

 

It's a phonological process called initial consonant deletion. It's not all that common, but you do see it with children with more complicated or severe phonological disorders. I've seen more children that have final consonant deletion, so they leave off the final sound, for example: 'hou' instead of 'house'. There's other phonological processes where kids use 't' instead of 'k' for example (it's called fronting) so they might say 'tootie' instead of 'cookie'. That's obviously a pretty rough intro with not much information, but in general, phonological disorders arise from kids having difficulty with sound patterns (rather than making the actual sounds themselves). 

[millk]

The speech session looked as if the camera was the one used to tape sessions normally and not the whole crew setting up in the corner of the room. 

 

Its all well and good to have an accessible park but to have the parking forever away is silly. It might be fine for a parent pushing chair but not for people with independent movement. 

[walnutqueen]

constantknot - thanks for some awesome insights!  I'm just glad the whole speech therapy for Will non-debate has been put to rest.  :-)  It was fascinating to see the different tools and approaches the therapist used to communicate the mechanics of sound formation to Will.  I can't imagine trying to teach an adult how to roll their "R's" with all the language skills and pantomime tricks in my bag; my hat is off to those who do this and much more with kids, not to mention people with some type of "disability" or language barrier.

 

Personally, I know these kids are being raised by two parents who are more informed and proactive about the many aspects of their children's needs than most, since they are both intelligent adults who have faced many of the same issues themselves.  So I had no doubt that Zoey was also being tested and monitored as is appropriate for her age and condition; TPTB just chose this episode to show us that  The medical and therapeutic details that Bill and Jen choose to share with us seem to be in the spirit of educating and informing; it must be a thin line to walk between sharing too much or too little, as some will find fault with everything they do.  I appreciate the narrow window I've been granted into their lives, and will not clamour for more or less at this point.  They make me smile, which is purportedly good for my chronic bad mood.  :-)

Edited May 10, 2014 by walnutqueen

[Kohola3]

constantknot - thanks for some awesome insights!  I'm just glad the whole speech therapy for Will non-debate has been put to rest.  :-)  It was fascinating to see the different tools and approaches the therapist used to communicate the mechanics of sound formation to Will.  I can't imagine trying to teach an adult how to roll their "R's" with all the language skills and pantomime tricks in my bag; my hat is off to those who do this and much more with kids, not to mention people with some type of "disability" or language barrier.

 

Ditto!  I know so little about SLP and your insights were very interesting.

 

And Walnutqueen, I agree wholeheartedly with your comments.  You said it better than I could including the bad mood - I look forward to Tuesdays for a pick me up.  

[constantknot]

Walnutqueen & Kohola3, I am always happy to share! I'm glad it was of interest to you. 

 

constantknot - thanks for some awesome insights!  I'm just glad the whole speech therapy for Will non-debate has been put to rest.  :-)  It was fascinating to see the different tools and approaches the therapist used to communicate the mechanics of sound formation to Will.  I can't imagine trying to teach an adult how to roll their "R's" with all the language skills and pantomime tricks in my bag; my hat is off to those who do this and much more with kids, not to mention people with some type of "disability" or language barrier.

 

Ahhh, the dreaded R! For the last 3 years, I worked mostly with 6-8 year olds and teaching the R sound has been a huge part of my caseload. It's so tough because it's one of those sounds you just can't see, and because people vary so much in how they produce it. I'm on my maternity leave right now, and seeing this episode made me miss work a bit (but let's be clear, just a little bit!). 

 

Edited to add: I wonder if Zoey (or Will for that matter) acts much differently when the cameras aren't on. I'm sure the medical appointment would have been tough no matter what, but I bet it was even weirder with the cameras in her face. That being said, they must be so used to it by now, that maybe it doesn't make a difference. 

Edited May 11, 2014 by constantknot

[millk]

My twin and I were in speech for 3 years in early elementary for our R sound. We got it for the most part but its easy to be lazy. Our mother still corrrrrrrrrrects us when she hears it 30 years later. 

 

Show? Will is dealing with the hearing more and new language together plus you have to add in that Chinese doesn't have some of the sounds we have so something things are brand super new even from when he had the muffled hearing. My 30something Chinese co-worker struggles with T.

Edited May 11, 2014 by millk

[all4mom]

Question for the speech pathologist: I've heard that Mandarin sounds more like singing that speaking, LOL, and some of the sounds Will makes seem to have that quality...  Am I crazy?

Edited May 12, 2014 by all4mom

[jodo]

I remember reading New Day used/taught sign language with the kids and it is very apparent Will uses his hands a lot to communicate.  HIs fingers are not actually signing as I have seen before with fingers or at least that I can understand myself with no knowledge but he knows how to use his hands to say no and eat anyway.  I wonder if the use of this type of communication hurt him more than helped him by not encouraging the use of words.  Just a thought.  I so want to hear Will talk!

[constantknot]

Ha ha I'm not sure, all4mom. I haven't really paid that much attention to that aspect of Mandarin, I will have to listen more closely. It would make sense that Will is used to the intonations or speech patterns of Mandarin though. 

 

Jodo, SLPs encourage the use of sign and other kinds of non-verbal communication to help kiddos have a way to get their message across while they are working on their speech. Helps them reduce frustration and feel more successful at communicating, and in my experience doesn't impede their spoken development. When you're teaching sign, you sign and speak so you're always modeling both. Baby sign is becoming pretty popular - teaching little ones to sign as well as talk. They usually can sign much earlier than they can speak, but benefit from the ability to express themselves. The signs usually fade away once the natural speech gets going. Hope that makes sense :) I'm also looking forward to hearing Will talk up a storm!

[jodo]

Thanks constantknot!  I am glad they gave him those tools to help him until it comes together for him!   

[Jellybeans]

Will and Jen used some sign language in a few episodes. I am deaf and saw the signs. I think I saw Bill only sign one word LOL. It has been awhile since I have seen any signs. :-) The speech therapy was interesting to see... glad Will enjoys it. I hated going to my sessions.

Edited June 1, 2014 by Jellybeans

[leighroda]

Something I found humorous about this episode, when I worked for TCH the child life dept was adament about using "comfort holds" when doing a procedure (ie shots, blood draws, strep tests) it always kinda made us groan because they were not always efficient or safe for the child, parent or even me. Having a child pinned on their back was a huge no-no. Don't get me wrong I think there is a place for comfort, but when an untrained parent is holding a child in their lap, and I'm holding a needle, that's not the safest for the parties involved. Anyway, all that to say I felt so much better seeing that I am not the only one who didn't follow the letter of the law of the child life dept... And they did it on national television.