Regardless, we are THRILLED with the therapy Evie is receiving now! We switched her from state-run agency to private therapy--just one of the many reasons I am not on board for Obama's Health Care plan--As the parent of a "special needs" child, you really appreciate the options you have and the efficiency of NON-government run agencies!!!!!! Don't get me started!
ANYWAY...Evie is progressing so nicely in so many areas. I firmly believe that this is due to: higher quality therapy in which the therapists: have clear, measurable goals with time-frames, do therapeutic activies which even a non-therapist like me can clearly see are related to the goals they have laid out for Evie, give "homework" to the parents which they first demonstrate for you instead of just mentioning it at the last minute after a therapy session...these include stretches, oral motor exercises, gross motor exercises, etc. I loooooove this new place!!
Here are some of the specific developments I've seen in Evie since beginning therapy a couple of months ago at this new spot:
*Attempting to jump
*Going up and down stairs with a handrail
*Going up and down one step, independently
*Using her left hand much more frequently, albeit awkwardly
*Demonstrating a desire to do activities independently (I think this is VERY important in order for her to have success, even though it can be frustrating at times)
*Climbing onto furniture (Just a week ago I had to help her onto all furniture--this is our newest development and it is SO nice to have her be able to climb into the glider or couch and read books all by herself--she loves it!)
*Climbing into her carseat--this is a s-l-o-w process but she is making good progress. I'm hoping she'll be able to do this more quickly by the time Soda is born. Our next step will be to teach her to buckle herself in, but fine motor continues to be a huge challenge, especially when she needs to use both hands for tasks.
*Reaching both hands over her head
*Kicking a ball
*Throwing/catching a ball--the kicking/catching/throwing are all still very much in the learning stages, but I am seeing definite improvement and now *I* know how to help her at home which is huge!
*Attempting many new sounds, especially vowel sounds
*Frustration when we don't understand what she is saying--this is actually a good thing because before there would be such lag time between new words that we would easily know what each of her words was (even if no one else did). Now that she has the confidence to try new words, we don't always know what she's saying, but hey, I'll take it!!
*Slowly improving in making an O-shape with her mouth--this has always been a struggle. When she blows she flattens her mouth into a "flat fish" type shape instead of the rounded O, so it's similar to when you try to blow your bangs out of your eyes, rather than the appropriate shape for blowing out a candle.
We are SO thankful for these wonderful therapists and the progress that we have seen!! We appreciate your continued prayers that we would be able to continue with this therapy. At this point, if my calculations are correct, we should be able to continue into October. If we qualify for the grant I think that would buy us a few more months of therapy, but at a cost of $30 a session (but hey, that's much better than $90 a session!). During open-enrollment you can bet we will be looking over the available plans with a fine-toothed comb now that we have a better idea of the language and exemptions that are buried within. Please pray for wisdom and discernment in this so we hopefully won't have this fight in future years.
