My son rocks!

One year ago (July 15, 2010 to be exact), Chandler was evaluated because of delays and lack of weight gain. He was diagnosed with a speech delay (he was 17 months old and speaking at a 10 month old level), and sensory issues which made it difficult for him to eat. He wouldn't pick up food and would freak out if anything got on his hands. He was under the 3rd percentile on the growth charts, only 19 lbs at 17 months old! We started off with occupational therapy once a month, a psychologist every other week, the nutritionist once a month and a speech therapist every week. That's a lot of appointments!

By November Chandler had improved well enough the the OT felt comfortable discharging him, with the psychologist and nutritionist still monitoring him while I still did some at home therapies. In May 2011 the psychologist said he would always have his little quirks (not a surprise, he is my child!), but she was done with his therapy. By now the nutritionist was only coming once every other month. Chandler was slowly scooting up in weight and was starting to consistently reaching her goals for him each visit. His weight-for-length wasn't really increasing, but that's because he was shooting up in height at the same time! But we adored his nutritionist and loved for her to come. He was continuing with speech therapy once a week and we were really seeing improvement there too.

On July 12, 2011 Chandler's speech therapist cam and did a new evaluation since we had seen so much improvement. A normal score is anywhere from 85-115. When we started he was scoring 75. He scored 106 and 111 on the two different sections! What an improvement! He is DONE with Speech Therapy!

On July 14, 2011 his nutritionist came and his coordinator joined her for our yearly review. He was 50% for height and nearly 10% for weight! We signed the paperwork for him to be discharged from the program and he is finished with all therapies! I am so proud of him! Almost exactly one year and he went from serious delays and 4 therapists coming to work with him, to being completely finished and excelling! No one can tell me that Early Intervention doesn't work! I am so thankful for everyone who worked with us and I am so proud of my son!

Wonderful (and delayed) update!

On Tuesday Little Man had his FINAL occupational therapy session! You heard me right! He has been improving in leaps and bounds. He is mastering a fork and spoon (a little early, but that's normal with sensory kids) and is eating so much more. But not only that, he's also able to deal with touching some things. I was so excited to see him holding and eating a banana! He still has some issues - he HATES getting his face wiped - but it's now in the "quirky" range instead of the "Oh my God he's not eating and is going to starve" range. :) Our wonderful occupational therapist felt comfortable discharging him and said to feel welcome to call if anything came up. I'm so proud of my Little Man!!!

Awesome progress!

Occupational therapy really helps! With Little Man's sensory issues we would NEVER have seen this a few months ago! I never thought I would be so happy to see my kid a mess! :D