Therapy Update

Since it's been a long time since I mentioned anything about therapy, I figured I'd give a quick update on what is going on in that area. Hannah is still getting her speech, occupational therapy and physical therapy. We have a great team of therapists who come to the house every so many weeks (it varies based on the type of therapy, but visits range from every 4 to 8 weeks). They come one at a time with Hannah's "early intervention" teacher. In the beginning, I always tried to be home from work for an afternoon appointment after school, but with Jon being home all day in the summer, I've just let him handle all of the appointments (and it's been a lot easier to do morning ones). I may not hear a "blow-by-blow" report on the visits (although he is capable of doing it when describing basketball plays!), but I've come to realize that I just can't be everywhere all of the time and at some level I have to trust that Jon also wants what is best for Hannah and he reports the most important things to me. (And, I get the worksheets/instructions the teacher and therapist leave behind.) For someone with "control issues" it's been a growth process for Mom!

Most of Hannah's PT appointments have moved to one of the pre-schools used by "Help Me Grow" because of the amount of gym equipment there. At Hannah's first appointment at the school, our teacher discovered the "non-stop moving girl" that she didn't believe we had! She was really concerned about her attention span during that appointment, but during another appointment later in the week, Hannah was able to sit still at a table and focus on a project they gave her, so hopefully it was just the new environment that had her distracted. Hannah LOVED all of the fun new stuff to play on and explore. Our biggest PT issue is that Hannah shows a noticeable favoritism for her right leg - so they are trying to get us to have her walk on low balance beams, on lines made with duct tape in the driveway (forward, backward, and sideways), and alternating feet when going up the stairs. They are just giving us things to do at home to work with her and so far when they've given us activities, they've always seen a good amount of improvement within a few months.

Our referral into the home-based program really started with Hannah's speech delay last summer. That was the first area where she scored noticeably behind where she should have been (even based on her "adjusted age" when she should have been born). However, Hannah is growing by leaps and bounds in the speech area these days. At this point, we're getting tips on the things we should be teaching her and where her language should develop. We're now working on sentences and proper "ing" or "s" endings to words. Jon and I are both amazed at how much kids learn in such a short amount of time and how many new words they pick up every day.

Hannah's OT appointments seem to me like they are most focused on some of the issues that preemies frequently have. We use an exercise ball to get her to lay with her arms and legs stretched out - preemies often really like to be in the prone position (think of an infant on its tummy), and Hannah is no different. She loves sleeping on her stomach with her arms and legs tucked, so getting her to be comfortable spreading out is a goal. When we first started she wouldn't do it at all for them, but now she'll roll on the ball and stretch all of the way out. Another activity they have us do is getting Hannah to lay on a blanket or sheet that we swing in the air - they flying sensation helps them spread out their limbs. OT also works with Hannah on some of her sensory issues with touch, moving to music, and some of the other basic developmental things she should be doing at 2 1/2 years.

I'm definitely glad we got ourselves hooked up with this program -- and it's FREE. (Well, I guess this is what a portion of our tax dollars are used for.) What Jon and I appreciate the most is that this is our first kid, and neither of us spend a ton of time around little kids (other than our own), so knowing what she should be doing and when is an area where we don't have a lot of experience. Having people trained in these areas give us things to work on and tell us what things are "normal" and what are a "problem" is really helpful. Hopefully, we'll get her caught up to her peers by the time she is 3 years old (when we're "kicked out" of the program). It's certainly been worth our time thus far to see the improvements she's made.