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Submitted by Linda Van Hoesen, SLP, Athens, NY

Some time ago at my present job, I was administering a vocabulary test which assessed both expressive and receptive vocabulary skills. I was testing a 4th grade student and she had done quite well, but appeared to be reaching the testing ceiling on the expressive portion. However, on several occassions this also appeared to be the case until she responded with a correct answer and prolonged her obvious misery. Thankfully, she was a trooper and tried her best to the very end. We were again at a point where we had a string of 5 of the 6 needed to reach a ceiling. I told her that the next word was "protractor." She became very excited and animated and said "Oooh I know this one!" I began to brace myself for the long haul, and nicely said "Great! What does protractor mean?." She then said: "My grandfather is a protractor. He is really good at driving his tractor. He is a protractor." She made my day!