CASE STUDY: Abbie Lane

The Early Years           

Abbie Lane, born on May 14, 1972, was the third daughter of Samuel and Camilla Lane.  Her father was a letter carrier and her mother was a customer service representative for a major pharmaceutical company in Chicago.  Three years after Abbie was born, her parents gave birth to a son, Jeremy.   Jeremy was born prematurely and had to stay in the hospital for a couple of weeks until he was strong enough to come home.  Since Abbie was closest in age of Jeremy, her parents encouraged them to play together by providing games and activities they both liked. 

“Jeremy really liked playing Chutes and Ladders, but I remember he didn’t talk a lot.  I didn’t know if this was a difference in boys or not, since my three sisters never shut up.  I wanted Jeremy to talk more, I so began bringing out more card games – the kind he had to say something in order to get a card to win.  He really didn’t like to do this and would cry sometimes when he said the wrong answer.”

By the time Jeremy went to kindergarten he was really quiet.  He never volunteered answers.  One day Abbie was sick and absent from school.  When Jeremy went to the office to tell them that Abbie was not going to be in school, the secretary couldn’t understand him and kept asking him to repeat what he was saying.  Jeremy broke down and began to cry. No one could console him.  Finally the office called his home and had his mother come after him.  When she got there the secretary said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with him.  He has got to learn to speak more clearly or no one will be able to understand him.  You need to take him to be evaluated.  There is something wrong with Jeremy.’

Mrs. Lane was shocked, angry, and worried, all at the same time.  When Jeremy got home, he crawled into a big overstuffed chair in Abby’s room and fell asleep.  Abbie told Jeremy that he did a good job in telling the office where she was and that she was proud of him.  She also reassured Jeremy there was nothing “wrong with him” and the secretary didn’t know anything about him. “I can understand what you are saying, Jeremy, and that is what counts.”

Jeremy continued to be very quiet in school, and he never went to the office again, for any reason.  Other children began to tease him about how he talked.  If this happened when Abbie was in earshot, she rushed to defend her brother, saying “How would you feel if you talked differently?  Would you like it if I made fun of you?”   Abbie thought Jeremy could use speech and language therapy, but her parents didn’t want anymore attention focused on Jeremy.  They felt he would eventually learn to talk like the other children and did not think he needed any extra help. 

Abbie  requested to meet with Mrs. Smith, the Speech and Language Pathologist, and asked what exercises and games she might be able to play with Jeremy to help him with his speaking problems.  Mrs. Smith took a special interest in Abbie and spent time after school teaching her about articulation disorders and what the mouth should look like to make certain sounds.  She even made her a folder of stories and poems that would help Jeremy practice his troublesome sounds.  Abbie listened to everything Mrs. Smith said and appreciated her instructions in how to motivate and support Jeremy in his speaking.  Abbie would bring things to school in order to ask Mrs. Smith if she thought they might be good for Jeremy.  Abbie never thought to ask Mrs. Smith why Jeremy didn’t talk like the other boys.  She just accepted his was different and wanted to do the best she could do to help him.

Middle Grades and High School

Abbie went off to high school when Jeremy was still in middle school.  Jeremy grew even more withdrawn, even though he did he work and received respectable grades.  Abbie knew that Jeremy was lonely. He begged to go with her to the movies and to high school activities.  “Abbie, please let me come.  I won’t say a word.  You won’t even know I am there with you guys.” 

Even though Abbie didn’t really want Jeremy tagging along, she knew that if he didn’t come with her, he would never get to go anywhere.  She would generally relent and bring Jeremy with her.  When he was with Abbie and her friends, Jeremy would feel more comfortable in talking.  Abbie asked her friends to be patient and to listen carefully; if they did, they could understand what Jeremy was saying.  She wanted them to give him confidence to talk.

Abbie and Jeremy’s three older sisters were either in college or working.  Sharon, the oldest, was getting married.  Due to a change in automation at the post office, their father was working the night shift in mail sorting, since the arthritis in his legs was getting worse.  Even though Mr. Lane’s movement and pain had improved, he rarely saw Abbie and Jeremy, except on the weekends.  Jeremy’s quietness was now considered “just his way” and only Abbie took an interest in listening to what he thought and about his school work. In middle grades Jeremy took algebra and drafting.  He found he liked working with math and creating designs.  He was Mr. Akins star pupil.  Math was not Abbie’s best subject and Jeremy liked helping her.  “Gee, Abbie.  I don’t know why you can’t do this stuff.”  Abbie laughed, “Probably because I don’t listen like you do.  I talk too much with Liz.  It’s more fun than listening to Mr. Douglas drone on and on.  I wish I could be a better listener like you.”

In her spare time Abbie continued to go to the library and read about speech and language therapy.  She was surprised to discover how much anatomy was involved as well as how much emotional stress was involved in learning how to speak.  Abbie did volunteer work at a nursing home and ask to be with residents who were recovering from strokes.  She found she felt at ease with them.  The social director was so glad when Abbie came as none of the other high school girls wanted to be with the residents who struggled to speak and be understood.  Abbie began to pick up what sounds were difficult.  She brought things to the residents from when they were young – old movies on videotape; read them poems she found in text books from the 1940s and 50s, newspaper stories when they were in high school.  She was amazed at what they remembered and how much they loved talking with her.  She made sure she stayed away from “yes” and “no” questions.  She wanted them to talk to her, and she wanted to learn from them.  Her favorite resident was Emma, who must have been in her 80s.  One day she said, “Abbie, I love talking with you.  You listen to me.  You really listen.  You understand what I want to say and let me say it without speaking for me.  My grandchildren are too impatient to listen.”  Abbie brought more of her friends to the nursing home.  When there were about five going, Abbie brought Jeremy with her.  “Jeremy, I want you to meet my friend, Emma.” From that time on, Jeremy spent time with Emma every week until she died about two years later.  Jeremy missed her, but told Abbie, “Emma – boy, was she ever full of stories.  She listened to me.  She never told me she couldn’t understand what I said.  Emma talked a lot like I do.  Wow!  And, she loved the drawings I did for her and the birdhouse I made for her window.”

The College Years   Abbie won a scholarship to Illinois State University.  She had received good grades in her college bound courses and high ACT scores.  Her parents encouraged her to major in business so she could make a good living and not have to work as hard as they did.  Abbie began majoring in accounting but couldn’t seem to concentrate on her reading and pay attention in class.  She would find herself listening to how students spoke; she noticed those who never spoke up in class and wondered why.  She tutored, free of charge, students who had difficulty in writing.  She was so happy when she was doing this.  How could she tell her parents, who had sacrificed so much, that she didn’t like business, and she definitely didn’t like accounting?  Instead she found herself spending time outside the speech and language lab, observing families and their children while waiting for their therapy sessions.  She thought, “Why do I feel this is where I belong?  Do I dare change my major and disappoint everyone?  I wonder what Jeremy will think?  Will I be good enough?  Do I have what it takes to be successful?”