Imagine you and your child have been given tickets to a performance of the greatest magic show on earth. The tricks are astounding, the special effects magnificent, and you’re sure to be dazzled. How would you choose to experience this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
You’ve purchased your tickets, driven to the venue, and are ready to go. Now imagine you just drop your child off outside the theatre. He goes in to enjoy the performance, but you spend the show in the PARKING LOT. You may hear snippets about the show afterward from your child or catch a quick minute with the performers as they exit the backstage door, but the information is secondhand. It will never recapture the excitement of the actual performance. You’ll just have to try to piece it together in your mind. That doesn’t sound so great, does it? You’re not getting your money’s worth for those tickets!
Perhaps it might be a little bit better to be PRESENT at the show. Sitting in the audience, you can see and hear all that is going on, even if it is from a bit of a distance (or through a one-way observation mirror). This is a bit better, but still not great.
But wait! Now, the magician on stage has asked a question of the audience. It’s time for audience PARTICIPATION, and you are it. For a brief moment, you play a part in the show. But it’s a very scripted part. The magician decided when to call on you and probably has a pretty good idea of how you will respond and what she’ll do in response. After the show, you’ll feel thrilled — you got a chance to be a part of the action — but you still won’t become a magician yourself, simply an audience participant.
What if, instead of asking for a bit of input, the magician called you backstage to become her PARTNER? Now, you’ve been invited behind the scenes. You understand the inner workings of the show, the order of the acts, the components of each trick. You and the magician are a team, working together. You’re becoming a pro. And suddenly, with all of your behind the scenes knowledge, you realize: there’s nothing magic about this at all!
THAT is what a good magician Auditory Verbal Therapist does for families: invites them backstage to the exciting “show” that is therapy to become full partners in their child’s learning. At first, it may seem that the therapist has a bag full of tricks, the ability to pull a rabbit out of a hat, elicit a new word or speech sound, or entertain even the fussiest toddler… but none of this is magic, just like magic tricks aren’t really real. These are all skills that anyone can learn. Come backstage and we’ll show you that the real magic is in you, your child, and the relationship you share.
Elizabeth A. Rosenzweig 