Early Intervention: Yearly Evaluation

(I just want to start by saying that the Lord has been showing out this week in the answered prayers department.  This is just one of many prayers that were answered this week.  I'm blown away and humbled by His faithfulness.  We are blessed beyond anything we could imagine or deserve.)

I know I just posted a little update but I wanted to post this update as well.  It was a year ago that we started this journey.  We had Barrett's annual evaluation yesterday and it went great.  They came to our home this time and Barrett was in his element.  He really showed out.  I'm so proud of that little booger.  The speech therapist was showing him pictures in a book for him to label.  He did great.  He labeled everything, he even said "scissors".  I'd never heard him say that and didn't know he knew what they were.  Needless to say we were impressed.  I knew there was a chance that he would test out of the program.  I didn't think that he would so I wasn't prepared at all when they all said he no longer qualified in any areas.  I knew he'd be fine in everything but communication.  I really thought he'd still qualify in communication.  He's made so much progress but he's still a little behind.  A 25% delay would have him on a 20 month old level at 27 months.  He scored at a 21 month old level.  So he was close to qualifying again.  When he was evaluated last year his communication was on the level of a 5-7 month old.  He was 15 months old.  We had no idea he was that delayed.  So we are so happy with the progress he's made.  A year ago he made no sounds other than crying and he really didn't even do that too often.  He made no efforts to communicate.  Today he "talks" all the time.  We understand about 50% of what he says.  But he's learning new words every day.  Our speech therapist recommended we continue to practice what they've taught us and if he's not continued to improve, in June seek private speech therapy.  So that's what we're going to do.  I'm so happy that he's made progress but I'm going to miss seeing these sweet ladies every month.  They have probably helped me as much or more than they've helped him.  When he hit that age where he just wasn't eating, they both were like "totally normal, he'll eat when he's hungry, don't sweat it." they were right.  When he started throwing fits, they both assured me that not only was it normal, it was actually a good thing developmentally.  It's been nice to have an outside voice to assure us that we are doing a good job.

We're going to miss Ms. Amy and Ms. Tamara.  I guess I'll quit rambling now.  I've been blown away by everyone's support over the last year.  I've heard from mom's that have been down the same road and it was always so encouraging.  " He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.  When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us."  2 Corinthians 1:4 This has become one of my favorite verses this year.  It is so true.  I've had the opportunity to talk to a few moms that are starting this journey and I have loved being able to hopefully encourage them.  I took this picture after he went to bed.  I went in just to watch him sleep. I'm so proud of him.  I just felt overwhelmed by God's grace.  We are so blessed and I never want to take that for granted.

Early Intervention update

I just realized it's been quite some time since I did an update on Barrett at all much less on how Early Intervention is going.   It was a year ago this month that we started this journey and we couldn't be more pleased with his progress.  A year ago Barrett did not communicate.  He didn't talk, he didn't try to make sounds, he didn't sign, he didn't do anything to let us know what he wanted.  We were so worried.  He was the sweetest child but he had no interest in letting us know what he wanted. 
We started with Special Instruction where our coordinator would come to us twice a month and work with Barrett and show us how to work with him at home.  After a month our coordinator suggested we also receive services from the speech therapist.  We also see her twice a month.  Barrett has thrived.  We started slowly.  But looking back at the big picture we have come so far.  Barrett says around 30 words.  This is huge.  He has also learned how to communicate non verbally.  He is a thousand times more outgoing and not nearly as passive. (which they tell me is a good thing ;) )  We are so thankful for the team of people working together to get him on track.  He is thriving in Mother's Day Out.  I'm so glad we made the decision to send him even though at the time I was skeptical. (these pictures have nothing to do with this post, they're just really cute) We will have our annual evaluation next month to really measure his progress and see if he even still qualifies for services.  I'm anxious to see his measured progress.  I love this boy so much.  His little personality is hilarious. We love hearing new words and seeing him discover the world.  He's so curious these days.  One of my favorite words he says is "elephant".  It's the cutest.  We have felt so blessed by this opportunity and the support we've received from our family and friends.  It truly has meant the world to us.

Speech Evaluation

This afternoon Barrett was evaluated by the speech therapist with the early intervention program.  Our coordinator wanted the speech therapist to come and check him out since he drools a lot and a few other things made her think he would benefit for more attention focused specifically on speech.  Once again we just want to do everything we can to get him caught up.  The speech therapist agreed that he could use the extra attention so her services have been added to our plan.  She will come to us twice a month in addition to the special instruction we already receive from our coordinator.  We have been encouraged with the progress already made and hope this is just one more tool that will help get him where he needs to be.  One thing she suggested is to spend more time around his "peers", that means more play dates.  We're not complaining.  We love play dates.  So that is where we are now. 

He was so proud of his new seat at the office.

Early Intervention Update

Last Wednesday we had our second instruction time with our service coordinator.  It went really well.  She was very pleased with his progress.  He is signing "more" like a champ and he's started shaking his head for "yes".  He also says one word, "Hey!".  It's the cutest thing ever when he walks into the room and says "Hey!"  He will say "Yeah" sometimes.  We think he's trying to talk a lot more in the last few weeks.  He will say a phrase and then if you ask he will repeat it.  We have no idea what he's saying but he's definitely trying to tell us something.  After talking with me and watching him she thinks he needs to be evaluated by the speech therapist.  She set up the appointment for us and we will have that evaluation next week.  Our "homework" this week included some exercises to increase oral muscle development.  We also are working on getting Barrett to stop throwing everything.  He currently will not put anything down, everything is thrown.  So that's fun.  I feel like he's understanding and comprehending more and more of what we say.  I can tell a big difference in those two areas.  Hopefully we'll continue to see progress. 

He found this apple in his bag and decided he was up for a snack.

Early Intervention Update

Monday we had our first meeting with our coordinator.  It was her first time to meet Barrett and I think he liked her.  She was very encouraging and basically said we just have to model, model, model to him.  Talk all the time to him. She wants us to start signing with him (which we probably should have been doing from the get go but we didn't, you live and learn.)  She gave us some "homework" and so far it's been going great.  I'm just so thankful for this opportunity to have someone help us help him.  She liked that he makes a lot of noise and she really thinks with a little pressure he'll be saying some things soon.  Right now, he doesn't have to talk.  I've been anticipating his needs for 16 months now and he's never had to ask for anything.  I know what he wants before he has a chance to tell me.  I've got to take a step back and let him come to me when he wants/needs something.  I'll be honest, that is really tough.  It so much "easier" to just give him what he needs when he needs it.  Being a parent is hard.

We went for Barrett's hearing evaluation on Wednesday.  While we were sitting in the waiting room there were several other families waiting for PT/OT and we realized how blessed we were.  We were quickly called back and the two girls that did the evaluation were so sweet.  Everything went really well  and it was a fairly simple process.  He tested in the normal range.  We are so thankful that he is fine.  They said we were on the right page with early intervention.   So now we just talk and model as much as we can to him.  We need to arrange his environment so it encourages him to ask for help.  She recommended we put his toys in clear plastic bags so that he can see them but not get them.  This encourages him to come to us and ask for help.  So far he doesn't seem interested in asking for help, he just moves along to find something else to play with. So we've got our work cut out for us.   We will see her again in two weeks.  Hopefully she'll notice some progress. 

Can you Hear me now? {An Update}

{Another long boring post}

Last week we took Barrett for an evaluation for the Early Intervention System.  {Here's last week's post for the reason we were doing this.}  We were anxious to say the least.  I thought I was going to vomit in the parking lot before we went in.  We were early for our appointment so we were able to chat with the women that do the evaluation for a few minutes while they finished their lunch.  They were all so nice and we immediately felt at ease.  The evaluation process itself was fairly simple for us.  There were three women, one of them talked with me about Barrett while the other two were in the floor "playing" with him.  They were trying to get him to do the things that he should be doing at 15 months.  He did several of them but there were several tasks he wasn't able to complete.  They were so helpful to Patrick and I giving us several things to be working on with him.  We asked when we would hear back from them and they said in the next day or so.  Meanwhile I was gathering as much information about Early Intervention as I could.  I was so surprised to know how many people I know had used the program or been evaluated.  I was hearing nothing but good things.  

Fast forward to yesterday, I hadn't heard from them so I decided to call fully expecting them to say that he didn't qualify.  I was a little shocked when she said that not only did he qualify but he qualified in 4 of the 5 developmental areas.  He was borderline physically which combines gross motor and fine motor skills.  My biggest concern was communication.  They told us that more often than not when there is a delay in communication it will affect other areas. 

This has been a hard thing to hear.  No one wants to hear that their child has a 25% delay in 4 developmental areas.  While it's not the easiest thing to hear, I'm so thankful that our pediatrician saw a need for the referral.  I never thought he was as delayed as he is.  Part of that is because I'm his mom and didn't want to see it and part is because I just wasn't really sure what a 15 month old is supposed to be able to do.  I'm also thankful that if he was borderline it went in the direction where he qualified.  I would hate to think he had a 23% delay and didn't qualify.  I'm also thankful that this program exists.  I'm trying to not let myself feel like I've failed.  I know it's not my fault.  I know there are probably things I could do better but I'm a good mom.  We are eager and excited to start this process.  We are waiting to be assigned a service coordinator.  She will sit down with us to write out a plan and then we'll work together to get Barrett caught up to where he needs to be.  

We will also have a hearing test scheduled for May 7th to rule out any form of hearing loss.  Once again we think he's fine but want to be sure.  

Thank you all for your prayers and support. 

Can you hear me now?

{This is a long boring post.  I've had so many thoughts over the last couple of days I need an outlet to record them.}
At Barrett's 15 month check up, Dr. Farr was concerned that he isn't saying any words yet.  No words, not attempting to say words, really no interest in talking at all.  He doesn't always respond to verbal commands, he can't point to any body parts when asked and we've been concerned.  I know that a lot of kids don't talk until closer to age two but the fact Barrett doesn't attempt to say words or even syllables led to us being referred to two different places.  One to have his hearing tested to make sure he is in fact hearing us and the other is an early intervention program that works with kids from birth to age 3 with a 25% delay.  They also have a program to teach parents how to work with their kids at home.
I was so upset when I left the appointment.  I didn't (and still don't) think there is anything really wrong with him but there is clearly some concern.  As a parent I want to do everything I can for him.  But it's still so hard to think something could be wrong.  Then I play the what am I doing wrong game.  Would it help if he was in some sort of daycare/school/Mother's Day Out program around other kids?  Do I not read to him enough?  Do I just give him what he wants to often instead of making him ask for it? Do we watch to much TV?  The questions are endless.  I think he hears me but what if he really doesn't.
We have his evaluation for the early intervention program Wednesday afternoon.  I'm praying that there's nothing wrong with him but if there is we will get him all the help he needs to succeed.  There are so, so many parents facing far worse and we are thankful that he is healthy and happy.  Being a parent is so hard sometimes.  I've tried to do the "right" thing at every possible turn, the hard part is there is never a 100% "right" choice.  What works for one family may not work for us.  I've done really well at not comparing Barrett to other kids but I do like to gauge where he is versus other kids his age.  He doesn't seem behind when with other kids his age but we trust our pediatrician 100% so we're going ahead with the screening/evaluation. We'd rather get him help as soon as possible if he needs it.
I guess I'll wrap this up.
I know in the grand scheme of things this is not a big deal.
But it's a big deal to us.