I can hardly believe that we are already in the middle of March!! Time goes by so quickly....not that I'm complaining. I'm looking forward to spring break - we're having a nice spurt of warm weather, and it has been so nice to be outside! A lot has happened since I wrote last - on January 21 I managed to trip over the rug as I was entering the school and slammed face first into the metal door. I hit the right side of my face - fractured my nose, got two beautiful shiners and major cuts to show for it. I passed out for a couple of minutes and got to take a ride on the ambulance for the first time. It was a pretty surreal experience - I was out of school for a week, and worker's comp took care of everything. I am, for the most part, better - I still feel some bumps along the bridge of my nose where I'm still healing, and I'll probably have a scar where I was cut, but it could have been a LOT worse. "Grace" is definitely not my middle name!
Meanwhile, while all of this was going on, we had visited the ENT to have Paul's hearing/fluid checked. Hearing was within normal ranges; however, there was still no movement in the eardrum and he still had fluid, even though it wasn't infected. We also had an appt with the pediatrician, and by then I had pretty much decided that we needed to go ahead and schedule ear tube surgery. While we were there, they also referred us to The North Carolina Infant-Toddler Program. This is a free service offered through the state - the one for this region is through East Carolina. They evaluate infants/toddlers up to the age of three for any type of delays.
Sooooooooo......February 25th we had Paul's tubes put in. It was pretty much a nonevent - he was fussy because of the drugs they put in him to knock him out, but was pretty much back to normal after his nap. In the weeks since his surgery, I've noticed him talking a lot more, saying more sounds, and has started saying a few more words. His words right now are "car", "truck", "cheese", "duck", "quack", "yum"....and he knows the letters S, X, I.
The evaluators came in to the day care on Tuesday and did an evaluation on him. I was there for most of it, and then we talked for about 90 minutes. They asked me questions about every aspect of his life - diet, things he can physically do, how he plays, words he can say, etc. So, what it basically comes down to is that he qualifies for speech services and he is also going to have a play therapist - both will come in twice a week to work with him. Matters of concern were his inability to communicate through words what he wants/needs and his limited vocabulary. He's also overweight, and that has contributed to lack of muscle tone so he has some physical delays, as well. They also didn't see him "playing" in a way that other children his age would be playing - not interacting a whole lot or playing with certain toys according to their function......
SSSOOOOO....I'm listening to all of this, and I mentioned that I had had some concerns about autism earlier on, but then pushed them aside because I thought my concerns might be due to his ear issues. They said that some of the signs they are seeing are what they see in autistic children, but they don't make that diagnosis until they're two years old. That was very hard to hear, but they told me that they felt that he will show improvement over time and with work so at this point I can't worry about that. It's not something I have a whole lot of control over, but I can control what I do with him at home and in our interactions. It's hard when I don't see him very much during the week - I am usually getting home about 5:00 every evening and by the time I feed him and get him ready for bed, I get maybe 40 minutes where I can really play and relax with him. Over the summer the therapists will be able to come to the house and work with him, and that will be great because I'll be there and can see what they're doing and be a part of it all. They will start the therapy probably within the next couple of weeks - they'll be coming to the daycare to work with him until summer, then they'll come to the house. I'm also planning to attempt potty training over the summer...I'll have to do some research and figure out if he's even ready for that yet and what the best way to go about this would be. So, any mommies out there with any suggestions????
Till next time.....
3 comments:
What an ordeal. Everything will be okay. With the potty training thing I did 10 minutes, 10 minutes off. I set a timer and all day we did this. It works! Consistency is the key. Good luck!!
Whoops!! 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off.
landen was a big boy like paul is. he did not have to get tubes but he had speech delays and hypotonia...along with a few other problems. i think paul is going to improve more and more each day now that he has the tubes. he probly has better balance for walking and he can hear you better now. by the end of this summer im sure you will see lots of progress. bless him. he is so cute. dont worry, give it some time and take all the therapy you can get.
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