Early Intervention Personal Perceptions

I am not one the parents with children who have extra needs who dislikes Early Interventions (EI).  In fact, anything that may help Cameran I am all for.  I am at a place where I neither feel jilted nor jaded by the EI system.  In fact, reading other blog posts has actually made me aware that we have it pretty stinkin' good in Pennsylvania.  One hundred percent is covered, AND therapists come to our house.  It is a win-win.  I have posted before that I think Cameran being our first child has helped because we have no basis of comparison.

And it's true.  The amount of evenings we dedicate to EIs and appointments is our "norm".  Even though it is sometimes annoying to need to rush out of work to get home in time to beat Cameran's therapists to the front door, it still is for the betterment of my daughter, and I couldn't live with myself thinking that I didn't do everything possible for her.  She is at daycare during the day, and they are wonderfully accomodating of all of her special needs and therapies.  In fact one way accomodate our schedule to fit in her therapies consisting of a Special Instructor (SI) similar to a play therapist, Occupational Therapist (OT), and Physical Therapist (PT) is to have them go to daycare one week, and to our home on the alternating week.  We have done this a variety of ways.  For a while, at home we had entire weeks off and Cameran was seen at daycare three times.  Now, for example, we have PT and SI at the house the same week that OT goes to daycare, and the next week it is just OT at the house and PT and SI go to daycare.  It really varies, and everyone is quite flexible.  I know it is also not that easy for everyone.  Our experiences have been exceptionally positive.  All three therapists are punctual, and if they do get stuck in traffic, always call or send a text message.  When sessions are missed due to unforseen circumstances on either end, we are quick to communicate, and make-up sessions always follow.

That stated, I also have not jumped on every bandwagon/homeopathic treatment available.  There is a lot to be said for NutriVene and other supplements being able to enhance individuals with Ds and their potential, however, because of Cameran's involvement with Western medicines due to her infantile spasm seizures, GERD, etc., I do not feel putting more foreign substances into her little body is of benefit now.  In the future, who knows?!

Basically I have found families fall into one of several camps when it comes to EI:
-those who are all for it, and if it helps, great, and if it doesn't, then at least it is one more person positively interacting with said child (This is my crew if you couldn't tell.  Would Cameran have been sitting up at X month without intervention? Who knows, but she did, she can, and EI surely did not hurt her.)
-skeptics who try and later bail, whether for financial reasons, personal reasons, or scheduling reasons
-larger families who have enough family members to keep the LO with special needs movin' and groovin' without the need of therapists
-those who think EI is bogus/waste of time either because they had bad experiences or just plain found it inconvenient
-those who are all about vitamins/supplements/alterna-therapies

I am sure there are more, but these seem to be the main sets of feelings regarding EI.  One is not more correct than the other.  I am sure if I had a family of six, and stayed at home I might feel differently about the value of someone coming into my home x times a week/month,etc.  In fact, the social interactions of a larger family alone are reason enough to rationally justify not needing a SI.  However, hubs and myself like to do parent-ish (I know, I know, English teacher using a non-word) things with Cami, and not always worry whether or not we are interacting in a way that is engaging her gross-motor skills, etc.  Sometimes it is nice to know that we can snuggle and kiss and hug her all evening long, and the PT will be out tomorrow to work on x,y, and z skill sets. 

Am I articulating well?  I am not sure. 

Bottom line: EI works for us.  It isn't for everyone.  I am not a judgemental person by nature, so to each his own.  Ryan and I have forged relationships with each of Cami's therapists, and respect them as teachers/therapists/sounding-boards-confidants/friends.  They have provided us with excellent connections and resources in the Ds community that we would not have known about otherwise. 

Cameran loves them.

AND THEY LOVE CAMERAN.  (Who doesn't want people doting on their child, expecting the best for him/her?)

Pumpkins and Ghosts and Singing, Oh My!

Today we went to our second Play Pals meeting. Last month we met at the park to play, sing, and eat and we met some nice families who also happen to have a child enhanced with a little something extra. I won't lie, afterward my husband and I were discussing the younger children regarding what they were (already) doing versus Cami. Big no-no. Ryan and I don't discuss much regarding the "can't do yets" of Peanut.

We have grown accustomed to celebrating inchstones instead of milestones. Cameran forces us to be grateful for every accomplishment, no matter how small or taken for granted in a typical child. We know names of moves that come naturally to other babies. For instance, if you are a mom if typical children then you probably never worried or heard of terms like "crossing midline" and "crouching in a 4-point stance".

We know 'em and we celebrate the pants off of them.
Me- "Honey--guess what Cameran did today?"
Hubby (lovingly sarcastic soul that he is)-"I don't know, did a backflip?"
Me- "No!! She got in the 4-point stance by herself AND rocked back and forth!"
Hubby-"that's awesome, way to go NutterButter!"

One day, whether sooner or later. We will have the same conversation, but this time we will celebrate crawling, and in time, walking too.

Cameran has given me patience, which I sorely lacked before. If I didn't have Cami I know I would be a slave to the Week-by-Week developmental manuals, driving myself crazy if my child did not "hold rattle and shake with purpose" at 14.5 weeks.

To get back to playgroup today, Cami and I went (albeit 10 minutes late) and walked into a loving, inclusive environment where there was, once again, a rainbow of other little Cami's. Cami sat and smiled. She watched two adorable blondies playing kitchen on the floor (they included her too)!!! She fingerpainted pumpkins and laughed while we sat in a circle singing songs. There was love and acceptance in the room, and although I didn't know anyone (yet) besides Cameran's SpecialInstructor, I felt comfortable and was glad we came.

Happy Ds Awareness Month, Cameran. We love each and every one of your chromosomes.

Goodbye Sanity...Hello Lent!

            Goodbye Love Affair...

I am not actually kidding when I say I am going to lose my mind for the next 40 days.  These coffees are what bridges the gap between waking up insanely early to let the crazy dogs out, to going back to bed for an hour, to waking up and getting ready for work, getting the baby ready for daycare, dropping her off at daycare and driving to work.  I go into the local Sheetz and they sometimes will start making it before I program it in their computer.  40 days of withdrawal.  40 days of no frappaccino.  What will I do? I assume I will survive.  It is going to be a sheer test of willpower.  Kind of like saying that at least one meal a day is going to involve salad of some sort.  It's like if I type it on here and there is the possibility of someone reading this, then I will actually possibly be held accountable....

On another note. Cameran's PT has only been going on for about a week now and already she has gone from not sitting up to sitting up for about a minute.  In our world this is huge!!! I am so proud of her.  Per recommendation of the PT we purchased a First Years portable high chair.  Not to use to eat from (although it works quite well) but instead, to practice sitting up in.  Cameran still does not have much motivation to reach out and grab for toys.  We are working on placing different textured toys on the tray within her reach.  So far she is reaching out and touching some of the toys, now we just need to work on grasping.  But like the PT said, gross motor before fine motor.  AKA: a test of patience (in a good way).  All of her accomplishments are that much sweeter when they finally do come.  We were so excited by her amount of progress that we went out and bought two more portable high chairs!  One for daycare and one for Pappy and Nanny's house!

ENT appointment on Thursday.... until then....