Iz had developmental clinic today.  We are checking in every six months to a year depending on how things are going and developmental takes a look at all therapies and things to see if we are missing anything.  At the moment we are doing all we can be doing but Miss E did give me a list of homeschooling resources (she has several homeschooled kids in her practice) and did do a referral to the new neuropsychologist to see about some educational testing if Iz is old enough for it.  With both older brothers diagnosed with the same learning disabilities and Iz struggling with some of the same things they did at this age, Miss E said it can't hurt to check into it early because if we can catch it now, we can work on it earlier.

Overall a good visit :)

Did we even stop moving at all today?

We started out our day getting an OT evaluation for Iz that lasted almost two hours.  One thing I can say about our rehab place is they are really thorough when determining if you need services, what those services should be, and what your goals should be.  You might remember she did occupational therapy here last year and was discharged but Developmental recommended we pick it up again.  Hopefully insurance approves it because it did help last time and we still have some areas to work on.

We ran home to get a quick lunch and then were off again to take the Busy Little B to speech therapy.  He seemed really excited to come and tell me all about it when he was done--he even talked to me about it instead of zoning out on the waiting room tv (this was a first--he always gets distracted until they turn off the tv.  The other kids in the waiting room just LOVE when that happens.....).

We ran a quick errand to pick up some necessities and then were off home for snack and a tiny bit of quiet time before we were off to open houses.  I was expecting maybe a few minutes in each classroom but three classrooms, some paperwork, and two different schools took just under three hours. OH BOY.  We had a late dinner and bedtime.  Such bad timing--tomorrow we have to be out the door at 7:30 am.  Not a good night to go to bed late!

Iz update

Iz is mostly holding steady.  She's had a few of her regular specialist visits and things are mostly staying the same but we do have some testing coming up.  The big one is a sleep deprived EEG like W did.  Keeping her up actually shouldn't be too hard since all I have to do is skip her melatonin :p  But man, she'll be grumpy when the time comes.

Our other big change is that developmental recommended she restart OT so we have an evaluation coming up to see if she will qualify again to do it.  She is excited because she loves OT :p  She's started chewing things again (she turned a set of mini blinds into confetti o_O ) so at the very least OT could help with that!

Our second set of NMES is over!

Last week we finished our second round of NMES therapies!  Three times a week, forty-five minutes a session, for a total of 24 sessions.  That's a lot of driving and a big chunk of time out of every week that we now get back :)

Baby W was much more cooperative this time--he still dislikes having the electrodes on his neck but he didn't fight them as much and almost all his sessions went the full amount of time.  I think it helped that they got better food this time :p  He had more things that were like he gets at home (fresh fruit, cheese, meat, etc) instead of all the snack-type processed foods he likes in small quantities while he waits for the "real" food to get done ;)

Iz did better this time, too--she really struggled to make it through his therapies the first time around and some pretty severe behavior problems cropped up.  This set, though, she still struggled a little but she was calmer about it and never reached the point where they had to kick her out.  And our last few sessions have been really really good--she has been calm and focused and occupied herself fairly well.  I think that is in large part due to her officially starting to see the boys' psychiatrist.  She had a sudden and severe escalation in anxiety that was manifesting as extreme aggression.  When the Developmental Pediatrician fought to get her in preschool, he hoped it would help temper her anxiety but also said it was possible it would not get better and we would need to look at medications to help her function.  The psychiatrist (who knows her pretty well as he spends a good chunk of time with her every few months when she goes to her brothers' appointments with them) has been keeping track of her as well and he said its very clear to him that she has ADHD like her brothers (my, did we ever hit the genetic lottery in this family.....) as well as the anxiety.  She started a low dose of Focalin and wow, what a difference.  She sat down with a book and spent a good half an hour going over the words with me and memorizing them and identifying the words and letters she could remember.  Before, she couldn't even sit still to listen to a story.  I remember when S started ADHD meds--it actually helped lower his anxiety levels because he wasn't so nervous about doing well in school.  Be nice if that was true for Iz, too!  Right now, she spends half  her day at school (and she's only there for half a day) trapped in her own  head, unable to get past the anxiousness.  She LOVES school but its so so hard for her right now--I'd be so happy if she could actually enjoy it and get something out of it.  She's a smart kid (above average when tested for intelligence) but her abilities are low because she's not able to fully participate. 

Developmental Pediatrician

Iz met with the developmental pediatrician for the first time.  He says her intelligence testing shows she's one smart little girl but her current abilities are way low and he thinks it all comes down to the anxiety she developed after surgery.  He asked permission to talk to the school and try to get them to make a medical exemption to bump her up on the wait list and get a spot for preschool and see if regular classroom experience can help her get past the anxiety (unlike her EI group where she made not a sound for over two years....) and if she still can't participate, he's recommending we try a very low level anxiety med.  He's in agreement with the neuropsych that its selective mutism but while therapy alone has helped improve things, its not enough.  He talked about maybe getting her into some other services as well--currently she's in OT to work on motor skills and sensory issues and she meets with a therapist every few weeks.  He mentioned maybe some PT for the low muscle tone and maybe speech.  Guess we'll see what happens?