Early Intervention

Before I talk about our latest early intervention news, I wanted to share this photo my dad took at Thanksgiving. When you say to Charlie, "say cheese!" he throws his arms in the air.  He's better if you say "smile!" but the photographer had not been warned at this point. So "say cheese!" happens and his arms fly up and he nails me in the eye- my open eye.  And it HURT!  We did manage to get a good one after that but my eye hurt for a while.

So on to our news.  Yesterday we had our yearly evaluation for early intervention services.
A recap if you will bear with me:
Oct. '09: Charlie has his first eval a few weeks after coming home from the NICU.  He didn't qualify for services because he's not delayed 25% + yet (because newborns aren't supposed to do anything).
Jan. '10: He's not picking his head up at all during tummy time, he's reevaluated, he qualifies for PT. 
Feb. '10: I mention feeding issues to PT, she sets us up with OT for feeding as well.
Dec. '10: Our first yearly eval.  He's 18 months old, and he tests at a 9 month cognitive level. So we start services with a teacher for cognitive delays, and we lose our feeding person (long story why we lost her, but Charlie was seeing feeding specialists at the hospital at this point 2 x weekly so I was fine with losing her).
Jan '11: Charlie starts walking, we lose PT.  He starts the "preschool class" which we LOVE.
March '11: I have Charlie tested for speech at 21 months old. He tests at 11 months expressive and 13 months receptive.  Speech services start, at first once every other week, and most recently every week.

It's important to note that at some point since our first evaluation, the laws/rules changed here in Virginia, and now children who are born early and have a "long" NICU stay automatically qualify for services whether their delay is 25% or not.  I know the NICU stay rule is as long as it's over 1 month, and I believe the gestational age may be 28 weeks (I believe it is below 30).  In any case, Charlie cannot "test out" of services now- he's automatically covered until he's 3 because his NICU stay was 16 weeks.

So our report of yesterday: He will no longer get the teacher for cognitive work or speech services.   At 29 months (last month when he was re-tested) his speech was 24 months expressive and 22 months receptive.  The 22 month is probably wrong, but some of the questions are: does he calm down when you explain he has to wait a minute before dealing with his needs?  He does not calm down, but we believe he does understand and is just not happy about it.  In any case, that makes him test at 22 months.  He is regularly saying 2-3 word phrases, with new ones every day, and we just need to be aware that he may have articulation issues down the road (l's, and r's may be a problem).  So we are to be sure to model correct pronunciation/articulation and correct him when he says something wrong.  As with everything, the earlier it's fixed, the easier it is fixed!

He will continue the class, and he will also be evaluated for OT services with an expert in sensory "stuff" in January.  Hopefully that person will pick him up and help us with some feeding stuff in these last 6 months before he's 3!  At this point, I believe the assistance he needs is with the sensory and oral motor issues.

Whew! Big day!