Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra can’t help but be worried about daughter Vaeda as the 5-year-old prepares to be developmentally evaluated at school. In a PopCulture.com exclusive sneak peek of Thursday’s all-new episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, Catelynn and Tyler admit that Vaeda’s speech delays and tendency to get overstimulated have them “a little stressed” when it comes to the next step in her education.
As Vaeda attempts to take back a toy from younger sister Rya, 2, as big sister Novalee, 9, looks on, Catelynn reminds her middle child to be “nice” as they play together. Tyler comments, “Don’t you wish you could be a fly on the wall sometimes? I wanna see them work [in school]. I feel like teachers – like I need them to be real with me.”
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Catelynn reveals Vaeda’s teacher told her that their daughter “gets angry when the class is really loud,” which is part of a pattern of overstimulation her parents have noticed too. “When things are too crazy,” Catelynn begins, as Tyler chimes in, “No, I know. She screams.”
Turning to Vaeda, the 16 and Pregnant alum asks, “Is it too loud in class sometimes?” to which the 5-year-old responds, “Yeah. … Friends did.” Catelynn translates, “The friends are too loud,” to which Vaeda responds, “Yeah.” Tyler wonders, “Why is it we are the only ones who can tell what she’s saying?” calling into question the little girl’s speech delays as well.
With all of that on her mind, Catelynn takes her questions to the Teen Mom: The Next Chapter group chat, asking for some “mom advice” from co-stars Amber Portwood, Maci Bookout, Ashley Jones, Briana DeJesus, Cheyenne Floyd, Jade Cline, and Leah Messer.
“Vaeda’s 5 now and she’s still not speaking that clearly and she’s definitely uncomfortable in loud environments,” Catelynn explains. “Her teacher and I have talked and they want to get her an IEP, which is an Individualized Educational Program. Has anybody else’s kids had to get this done? I’m trying not to make a big deal out of it, but it’s definitely got me a little stressed.”
After a little encouragement to go through with the IEP evaluation, Catelynn has a few questions when she receives the call from the “occupational place” that will assess Vaeda at school the following day. “When you guys do this and she gets a certain score, does that help you know if she’s a little like neurodivergent?” Catelynn asks. “Or anything of that nature?”
“It does not,” responds the occupational therapist. “I think you’re kind of feeling out for like autism.” Catelynn and Tyler confirm that is the underlying question for them in all of this, but the therapist reveals that there’s a much more involved process for autism evaluations. “So that would be something that we test for later on with like a psychologist,” she explains. “We really don’t start looking at that stuff until it starts impacting her education.”
With that cleared up, Catelynn and Tyler have nothing to do but wait on the results of Vaeda’s IEP evaluation as the preview clip comes to a close.
Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.
