[fophyfam]

and were involved in speech, physical, and occupational therapy? I am in GREAT need of some encouragement. Our daughter is now enrolled in all three, and I find myself very discouraged at what may be in the future? Do any of you have any success stories?

Thanks,

Cheri

[cerca]

I have a friend who is a speach ther. and another good friend who has twins with PPD. The twins have been recieving services their whole lives (now almost 5) and are doing great! He actually was diagnosed with autism but with the help of his wonderful therapists will be mainstreamed for kindegarten. The other twin is also doing great (she had fewer issues). Hang in their, make sure you are getting all the services you deserve and that you need. I love early intervention because I watched my brother struggle with learning/speech problems in 1-3 grades (where he got teased a lot). The earlier you can catch it the better it is for everyone! Good luck.

Jess

[JillnChris]

I don't know what your daughter has been diagnosed with but I work with developmentally delayed children and I can tell you it takes a lot of patience but when I see them reach a new milestone it is the best feeling in the world. The good thing is that she is recieving all of those services, that should help a lot.

Hang in there,

Jill

[JohnnaMJH]

Our son had physical and is still in speech. He is making a lot of progress. He just started walking at about 20 mos, but he walks really well now and also has always been very agile with things like climbing for instance.

The speech is slower progress, but we are definitely making some. At this point, I think everyone agrees that it is a result of low stimulation when he was little (home at 7mos) and the dramatic language switch. We have taught him several signs and he uses those.

Good luck!

[sammibag]

was am a special educatin teacher and work with preschool children with developmental delays. early intervention works miracles!!! hang in there! try not to compare to other children, or even typically developing children. i know that at this age it is all about comparison to the general population. but your child is unique! the more you can concentrate on your childs unique abilities the happier you will be.
with all my heart
stephanie

[rjvpmn]

I have a son with Sensory Integration Dysfunction and a daughter with Mild CP. They both have recd help. My son was premie. He is 10 now.. he is doing great. He had OT and PT. I wish I had actually continued it longer as he still has issues. Swimming was one of the best therapies I ever did for him. He was scared to death and it took private lessons but now he is a fish. My daughter is now getting services .. OT,PT and speech. She is doing good.. We play lots and do puzzles and talk all the time. It does take a ton of patience and when my son was young there were days I would just cry. I still worry about his future.. not so much with intelligence but it is a cruel world and kids are not very nice to kids that are not perfect. My husband and I know we need to be the kids greatest advocates or nobody would be. Also we did do some dietary things and took out all the junk .. it helped... also good sleep.
Good luck.

[proudmommyof 2]

What in your area qualifies the kiddos for services? In ours, for PT and OT, it's a 25% delay, and for speech, it's a 50% delay. How large are the delays, or instead of answering that, how stringent are the requirements to get services in your area? IN our area, you don't even need to have had the delays to get into the program if you were in foster care or a few other special circumstances.

My youngest, Tommy, receives all 3. We knew when we adopted him, though, that *something* was wrong, because he was even delayed in comparison to the kids in his baby home (he's from Russia). He's now seeing a neurologist and we think he may have FAE. His delays are severe though. He's 2 1/2 and only has 4 words.

I'd love to hear someone whose kids received all 3 and are fine now.

What's your pediatrician saying?

[iammonikasmom]

My 9yo came home at 13mo and has received OT, speech, and lots of services since the beginning. You can email me or pm me and we can talk. It can feel overwhelming but you will be her best advocate, always. Nancy

[stephjoel99]

Katrina, I had PM'd Cheri (the original poster) but since you had asked the same question I thought I'd answer you too. My son received PT/ST/OT starting at 18 months. He was discharged last year at 4. He will be 5 in February and no longer has a diagnosis (it was Semantic/Pragmatic Language disorder w/Autistic Features - fancy way of saying almost all, but missing 1 criteria for an Asperger's diagnosis) He was physically uncoordinated, unusual gait pattern, didn't walk until 18 months, sensory integration disorder (lots of stuff wrong there) and severe speech delay (lost language - was 18m delayed).

And *now* he is normal - much more coordinated (not probably going to win the Heissman Trophy though - but that's okay with me), awesome speech, less sensory stuff (but still doesn't like long pants or long sleeves - thank goodness we're in Florida) and overall a normal kid. Mainstreamed to the point that his teachers don't know he's ever had problems. He's fabulous, fantastic and I owe it all to early intervention. We also implemented some dietary changes while in therapy.

PM me if you have any questions. Stephanie

[churchvillemom]

When we brought our son home he was assessed as mild to moderately delayed and we were told, given some medical issues our son has, that he might always be delayed compared to his peers. He was 9 months old. He was enrolled in an early intervention program which was very helpful. He is now 21 months old and doing great! I know every case is different but hang in there. Keep the hope!

[CurlysGirly]

My son is 3 1/2, has had all three and has come a LONG way. Early Intervention is SO key to success. Don't give up. Although, having therapists there for you is great, be sure to be an active participant to what they are doing. Take what they do and reinforce it at home. Those 3 hours of therapy are important but so are you as her #1 teacher.

Another thing that helps me out is to not focus on "the future". Focus on today and tomorrow and next week and what you can accomplish now. I see so many parents cry and get bogged down with "what about middle school, high school ,etc". Right now that is out of your control. I run a parent support group for newly diagnosed kiddos on the autism spectrum and to see how they have improved is amazing.

Best of luck to you. You can PM me if you have questions.

[KayV]

Our son is 9 years old and has received OT & PT since he was 12 months old. He didn't walk until he was 2 1/2 years old. His language was fine though. He had hydrocephalus & club feet when born. He still receives OT & PT in school and is doing fairly well academically in school. It's been a long haul, but well worth the effort. These children are so special! Everything will turn out fine -- just maybe not exactly what you were planning on.

KayV

[angelkisses0102]

I love this and it has helped me through some pretty rough days with my DS...who has some 'surprise' special needs. In our area you have to be pretty significantly delayed to qualify for therapy...so he only got speech...but he was very borderline on gross motor and had some fine motor issues. He is no longer in therapy and has no lasting delays in that regard. His eyes/eyesight is still a great unknown but he is such a joy regardless. Hang in...it takes time to accept the loss of some of our dreams for our kiddos but after a while you will start dreaming new ones.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by
Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

[shelbydog]

I have a similar story to Stephanie. My son is now 4 and 1/2 and pretty much mainstreamed/normal. But he started PT at 13 months. OT and ST at age 2. We also went through a period of stuttering that was quite scary but finally stopped. At age 3 and 4, he still had unusual gait, poor coordination/balance and some sensory issues - not what you would think of as "typical" sensory stuff like not liking certain fabrics, textures, etc, but proprioceptive and vestibular - which means things like knowing where his body is in space - he bumped into things alot, had poor balance and if you touched his foot sometimes he couldn't tell you that you touched his foot - he might say leg or arm.

We moved to VA last March and our new ped. here referred us to a Sensory Motor Planning Center here - it is reknowned, only one like it on the East coast. We had our son eval'd by the Doctor who runs it - he is a movement disorder specialist and he started private lessons this past summer and now attends one morning per week and he is doing amazing. Hard to explain, but Evan could never just climb a ladder. He had to be shown how. He couldn't chase a balloon and bounce it while he runs. When he was 14 months, our PT had to literally show him how to crawl - move his hands and knees for him. He also had an odd arm movement - he is not autistic but it is similar to "flapping" and he only does it when he is excited. Long story but we learned it's because he skipped so many developmental movements/milestones growing up that his brain is now sending out "misfires" when new pathways are opened up. Basically, the Doc who eval'd him here is a genius in my eyes, and I finally felt like someone truly understood my son and could help him. So many mysteries have been answered for us. I now understand why my son has trouble putting his shoes on!! I understand why he tires easily in sports or physical challenges. Today, most people would never, ever know he had delays but he had to relearn alot of simple movements that he skipped. Crawling, creeping (army crawl), trunk strength, hopping forward, etc.

Anyway, enough of my story. Your child will be fine. The best advice I can give you is don't get down. Keep your eye on the goal. If you are attending activities that you don't feel are a good place for your child, don't go. Voice any concerns you have with all of your therapists. If you need to, go outside for more help or seek private help. And if you live anywhere near VA, PM me. The center my son goes to has kids coming from Germany and Canada for help. It's remarkable and within weeks we saw changes in my son. PM me with any questions and good luck!

[tybeemuffin]

My DD started T when we got back from Guatemala. At 7 1/2 months she couldn't sit or roll over. Her head was distorted. It is not only flat in back but on one side as well.

She got a helmet a week ago so hopefully that will help with the shape of her head.

Two weeks ago we went to PT and the Physical Therapist said that she has caught up for her age and won't have to go back except for head measurements for her helmet adjustments. At 9 1/2 months she is crawling standing, cruising etc.

My brother went through speech theraphy for a year when he was 8. It completely helped him. He no longer has any speech problems.

Good Luck with your situation!