Early Intervention

As it turns out, Julia's assessment turned out to be a regular visit, as the person who was supposed to come with Vida was unable to. Hopefully, her next visit will be her assessment.

I was curious though, with Julia teetering on the edge of eligibility, what my options were should she not meet the requirements for services to continue. I really feel like EI has been a wonderful thing for her and I seriously doubt her progress would be as great as it has been with out the extra encouragement and all of the ideas and tools I have acquired as a result of her involvement with EI. Vida and Jen have really shared some fabulous ideas that I never would have thought of on my own.

Vida is unsure about whether or not she is eligible. She agrees, as do I, that there are still some concerns. She told me about something which is called a "clinical judgement." In a nutshell, if she is just below the threshold for eligibility, we can file paperwork, which would include the reccomendation from her developmental pediatrician (which I already have) and her services would continue for 6 months. This would be good, because part of what I am trying to do here is get her in to the public preschool, either as a model child (a child with no special concerns) or, if needed as a child with special needs (in her case PT). I have heard wonderful things about the public preschool and even know of a parent who's child was a student there last year. If EI stays on board until she is 2 1/2, her chances of getting in are much greater, and EI also helps with all of the paperwork and testing that would be necessary for her to be admitted.

So, we'll see. While we were talking, I brought up another concern I have been mulling over. Julia as many of you know has really started talking. She will attempt to say almost anything and usually does a pretty good job. The ony thing is that she still needs a lot of prompting. She doesn't speak freely often and just about everything she says is either after someone has told her to say it, or she just repeats something she has just heard someone else say. Vida has noticed this too, and even commented on it on various occasions. She understands everything we say and can follow directions but she generally doesn't just "talk." It will probably come eventually, as everything else has but it's another reason that I feel EI would continue to benefit Julia.

I have to admit, I am a little freaked out about all of her services ending (we will be done at Health South on Monday). I don't know why exactly...it could be just because it has become such a regular part of our lives, or it coud be something else. It's not like I think she is going to regress or something, and I certainly have acquired a wealth of knowledge about speech and gross motor delays, as well as sensory concerns which will help me to continue my work with Julia at home. For some reason, it's just scary.