u/Mysterious_Umpire684

My child (6) had been getting speech therapy for almost 3 years without progress, minimally verbal, and at the suggestion of his longstanding general SLP and his neurologist, we moved on to an apraxia specialist running her own practice. His old SLP was lovely but she felt like she didn't have the right skills.

The new SLP diagnosed him with apraxia and we started sessions. He brought his AAC to the sessions and occasionally used them, though he was not terribly proficient at this point. The therapy rooms were almost spartan in how bare bones they were, and she mostly tried to get him to imitate her mouth and sounds from a table, without much success. After maybe 2-3 weeks, she tells me at the end of the session that she thinks there's no use in continuing, as my son didn't have the focus for the therapy to be effective.

That appeared to be end of the line. I decided to take a break and try again when he had more readiness. After 7 months, we hesitantly started with a new apraxia-specialized SLP.

She went AAC-first, and my son made tremendous progress in just a matter of weeks- she installed the program properly (we just had a few buttons), and he immediately began navigating intuitively, reading buttons, initiating communication, responding, even sharing more complete thoughts. All in a few weeks. And the therapy rooms are cozy, with toys and furniture, and she plays with him, which he loves.

I realize now that my child was ready for speech therapy all along. I'm upset with myself for listening to her. We lost 7 months of services, when my child could have been making progress with the right support.

I thought my child wasn't ready and could be rejected for therapy again if we tried too soon. Now I hear how stupid that sounds.

I mostly blame myself, but I don't understand why the SLP never suggested we try a different approach, or even reccommended us to another colleague.

What's crazy is she claims to have helped other patients acquire AACs and use them. Before the evaluation, she said she had a significant CAS caseload, so I assumed she was an expert. I just have no idea why we were discouraged from pursuing speech therapy by her.

I'm interested in doing maybe a 3ish hour paddle trip on the Llano, either in the Mason to Llano stretch, or the South Llano around Junction. I've explored other hill country rivers but I'm not familiar with this one. What stretches do you recommend?

This is not to flame or shame anyone, just wanted to share something a little humorous that Italian language enthusiasts might get a chuckle over.

"Al fresco" is a common adapted phrase in English used to mean eating outside. But that's not the meaning the term has in Italian.

In Italian, "al fresco" is sort of an old-timey phrase that often means being in jail, because jails in the past were often open to the outside air. (It can have the literal meaning too, in the right context.)

It's a slightly perplexing thing to say in Italian. It would sort of be like, while on vacation in Italy, an Italian asks if you would like to spend a beautiful afternoon "sleeping with the fishes". And when you ask, confused, what do they mean, they respond saying it's a term that means bathing in a freshwater body of water. And you see where they're going with it, but can't help but mention that the phrase has a pretty marked connotation in English. (This is the best example I can think of to convey how al fresco comes off).

A different way to phrase it in Italian is "all'aperto".

Anways, enjoy, guys.

Here we go now. Godspeed to my tomatoes.

I have some zucchini that are starting to get pretty long stalks and are still producing. Do you let your trail on the ground, or prop them up?

Reviewing this year's tomatoes:

Celebrity: C+ flavor, A- productivity. They are fine, not amazing, still superior to grocery store. Set well and have really slowed down new growth in June.

Better Boy: A- flavor, C+ productivity. Good, pleasant taste with a nice tang. Great slicer size. Somewhat prone to cracking. Each plant has set just a few fruits.

Arkansas Traveler: A flavor, A- productivity. Slow-starting heirloom that is now leading the rest in size. Cranks out tomatoes pretty reliably even with the rain and humidity this year. The first fruit after the torrential rains was meh, but everything that came after that has been great. It has a slightly sweet, creamy texture, well-balanced. Still setting tomatoes in June. I will definitely bring it back next year.

Cherokee Purple: A+ flavor, D productivity. Incredible tomato. Smokey, salty and lush texture. Gorgeous tomato. It liked the weather in February, though. Hasn't set a fruit since March.

Juliet: B+ flavor, A productivity. I grew these last year and they are my best all-arounder. Great for salads and sauce. A little more acidic and tangy than my others.

Super Sweet 100: A- flavor, A productivity. Mine were slow to establish this year. Flavor is a bit all over the place, maybe because of the intense rains all spring.

Red Grape: A flavor, A productivity. I like the slightly tart, zippy taste. They are quickly outrunning my SS100 and are slightly more productive. Surprised to say I usually like these better than SS100.

Principe Borghese: A+ flavor*, A productivity. Eaten fresh, the flavor is pleasant but not noteworthy. But dried... they are transcendent. ​Like tomato candy. Tried drying some of my other cherry varieties for comparison, but they couldn't touch PB. Dried them at 135F for 6-8 hours in my air fryer using the dehydrate mode. Still setting lots of fruit. Will definitely grow again.

La Roma Red: B+ flavor, A+ productivity. Very pleased with this plant for sauce tomatoes. Just one plant has made enough for multiple batches of sauce on its own. It is basically done for the season, though, being a determinant. Would grow again.

Roma vf: B flavor, C+ productivity. I have no idea why my basic roma tomatoes this year are struggling to grow and set. Each one hasn't gotten above a foot. Both nursery transplants. Last year this was a vigorous variety for me. Maybe I got unlucky this year.

Mortgage Lifter: Fuck this tomato. I grew it from seed, both are 4 feet tall, vigorous, puts out many blossoms yet neither one has set a single fruit. Never again.

---

Next year, I want to try Indian stripe, stupice, sun gold, black cherry, katinka, and maybe a dwarf variety.

Would love to hear thoughts on these or your other tomato varieties this year!