Two-year-old Anna and her family traveled to Changsha, China this summer to visit relatives. Their prep list for the trip included scheduling a tVISIT (teleservices Virtual Intervention Services for Infants and Toddlers) with Clarke’s Melissa Pyzik M.E.D., LSLS Cert. AVEd, via Facetime in June.
Anna has a mild to moderate bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss and while living in Bellevue, Washington received services through an OPTION School. The family connected with Clarke for tVISIT services in February 2018 when they began plans to relocate to Florida. The teleservices began at 6:00 pm PT for the family and 9:00 pm ET for Melissa who is based in Winter Garden, FL.
The family’s success with tVISITs led them to schedule a session during their trip to China. With a 12-hour time difference, the family met with Melissa from a hotel in Changsha. Anna’s mother brought a few books as well as paper and crayons. It was necessary to be creative but in the end, Melissa coached the family in auditory verbal strategies through singing, vocabulary through literacy and use of simple sentences by making a beautiful Father’s Day card.
“It has been a joy to see Anna come so far in her auditory learning, develop her play skills and begin to hold conversations with her peers,” says Melissa.
This fall Anna and her family continue with tVISITs and also participate in auditory-verbal therapy in Orlando. Her tVISIT from China marks the most virtual “ground covered” through Clarke’s teleservices! Learn more at clarkeschools.org/tvisit.
