Thursday, May 20, 2010

Not That Kind of Intervention

Yesterday, Elissa had her initial evaluation for Early Intervention. It was basically a formality, to see where her development is at right now, since her birth history already qualifies her for the program. Early Intervention is not scary, it doesn't mean she's delayed, and it's not that kind of intervention.

Trust me. My kid's already been through drug rehab anyhow.

So a team of people came to the house, sat on the floor, and played with Ellie. They measured her social skills, motor skills, and some other stuff that sounded much more scientific than it needed to be. (i.e. Does she eat her hands?) She did pretty well, but she's behind in almost every category. She needs a lot of work on her head and neck control. Her motor skills are at a two-month level. But her social skills are right on the money.

Mommy's little social butterfly. Aw.

Now, to preemptively answer the ensuing questions, Early Intervention gives us the opportunity to catch slow development and put Ellie back on track. With her MRI normal and all her progress to date, there's no cause for concern yet. She had a lot of traumatic things happen to her early on, a lot of things that put her at risk for different types of neurological problems, like cerebral palsy. But in EI, we have a chance to give her the most normal life possible.

And of course, I've got a whole bunch of "homework." Structured playtime. Doesn't that sound a bit... I don't know... counter-intuitive? But it's not bad. We have specific stretches to do, exercises that will help her neck strength grow, and all sorts of ways to try to get her to reach out and grab for things. Yay, light-up toys!

With lots of hard work, and a little luck, we'll get Ellie back on track in no time.

1 comment:

The mom of 4 monkeys! said...

She'll catch right up but it is so good to be pro-active!

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