Early Intervention Update

Here in PA, they do reviews every three months and adjust services accordingly. The difference is that this review isn't one of those ones where they go through the whole assessment and say "Your child is this far behind" - this one is more like a meeting with the case manager, her "lead" therapist and me. We talk about her progress and what her new goals should be and then we plan.

So that happened on Weds. and we decided that we need PT again. Little Miss is having some balance issues, holds her left foot to the side when she walks, and seems to have some issues with her hips. Nothing majorly alarming, but something we wanted to have checked out, and see what we can do to help her. Some of this could be simply related to her vision issues, or just be a quirk she has right now and will out grow.

We also decided between Speech and Special Instruction. I asked for Speech but both OT and her case manager feel Special Instruction would be best suited for now. And we can pull in Speech later if needed. Addison does have some words, but (and maybe I am wrong) not as many as Blake. While it's hard to not compare them, it's just best to have these things looked at now and make progress on them. She is also "at risk" because of her Cleft Palate for speech delays so this is super important.

For now it looks like we are going to do PT once a month, Special Instruction twice a month and OT once a month. Re-eval in 3 months and decide from there. Should she still qualify based on her needs, within the next 3-6 months, they will start to transition her into the 3 year old program, which is more like a Head Start or Preschool type program to help prep her for school.

I am sure you've heard "most preemies are caught up by age two" and while that is true in some cases, we know that Addison still has some very mild delays. And ya know what, while I beyond a shadow of a doubt want her to "catch up", I am o.k. with this. Ok as in - I am glad we have the resources available to us to help continue to help her and nurture her learning so that she can continue to grow and progress. The important thing is that the gap between where she is and "should" be is getting smaller. It's just taking longer, and that's ok. She is so very smart, and picks up on things so I have no doubt that will continued hard work she will continue to blossom and develop.

One thing for sure is that we are going to have our hands full with her for sure ;)