Tuesday, September 19, 2017

A return to Early Intervention, and it's all good


"He's eligible," the Early Intervention coordinator told me. We were seated in our living room along with Ben, a speech therapist and an occupational therapist. Ben had qualified for Early Intervention.

"That's good!" I responded. She seemed a bit taken aback by my enthusiastic reaction. "I have an older son who was in Early Intervention, and I'm glad to get Ben any extra support that could help him," I explained.

I meant every word.

Ben's speech has been coming along, but not at the pace it should. I knew it back last spring, and I didn't hesitate to get an EI evaluation. He didn't make it—he was just on the cusp. They told me to call back in a few months, and I did. This time, they decided he could use a weekly speech therapy session plus a separate one with a developmental interventionist, essentially a teacher.

We met with the teacher, Susan, last Friday. As is typical of EI, it consisted of play. Ben did an admirable job putting puzzle pieces in the right spot, making choices and asserting his needs ("Bubbles! NOW!"). The teacher kept remarking that he was doing an admirable job and had nice communication, along with how cute he was which makes him off-the-charts adorbs.

I was so calm and optimistic about Ben as we sat there, the opposite of how I'd felt years ago when Max entered Early Intervention at the ripe old age of two months. "Anxious mess" pretty much described my state back then, because I knew Max was at risk for not being able to do many things. "Get him as much therapy as possible," a renowned pediatric neurologist had advised us, and we did. Within the first year of his life, he had ten therapy sessions a week including speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. On weekends and after work, Dave and I took him to craniosacral therapy and hyperbaric oxygen treatment. We were driven by equal parts love and fear.

As the months passed, I grew to accept that Max was on his own timeline. I was still so worried about whether he'd walk and talk, and what the state of his cognition would be, but I took heart in the progress. When he started commando crawling at 15 months old, Dave and I rejoiced. It didn't matter that the other kids his age were walking or on the verge of it; Max was getting around, pulling his body forward with his arms because his limbs and torso weren't yet strong enough for him to crawl on all fours.

Max's physical therapist, Mindy, ultimately helped him walk, first with a walker and then independently. His speech came along, and then God and Steve Jobs (some believe them to be one and the same) invented the iPad, which opened up a whole new world of communication. When Max aged out of Early Intervention at three, I assembled a team of private therapists and got his EI occupational therapist to stick with us for a few more years. They've rotated in and out over the years, except for Jeri, who has been seeing Max since he was two years old.

I know there are parents out there who are hesitant to enroll their children in Early Intervention; one recent study I wrote about here found a big gap between the number of young children with disabilities and the number getting EI. Sometimes, parents worry about a perceived stigma. Sometimes, they just don't want to face up to the fact of a child's delays.

I have only gratitude to the legions of therapists who've seen Max through Early Intervention, at school and in our home, and who've helped him reach his capabilities and beyond. I am grateful to them for showing me and Dave how to better enable Max. I am excited to have two new OTs in his life who are helping Max figure out ways to be more independent, especially with personal care.

And now, I am genuinely happy to have therapists giving Ben a boost early on his life, when it can make a particularly big difference.

Toward the end of Ben's first therapy session, Max's bus showed up. Max headed into the living room and asked, "Who's that?" I explained that Susan was there to help Ben with his words. "Oh!" he said, and proceeded to plop down on the couch and watch and encourage Ben. "Good job!" he said when Ben put Mr. Potato Head's eyes on his face. A few minutes later, Sabrina walked in the door and she joined in as as well.

I watched my three children sitting together, and I felt so, so lucky.

14 comments:

  1. I love absolutely EVERYTHING about this post. Thank you so much for sharing.

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  2. As someone who had early intervention (speech, OT, PT), I sing its' praises. I'm glad you were so proactive with Ben.

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  3. My son started early intervention when he was about 4 months old. I really credit that with how well he's doing now at 3 1/2 years old.

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    1. I felt the same about Max, Hannah. I'm glad your son is doing well!!!

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  4. I had my son evaluated by EI for a speech delay at 18 months (he literally said maybe 5 words) and he was turned down. At two, he qualified but barely (which still boggles my mind since he barely spoke a word). Twice weekly speech therapy and within a year, it was absolutely incredible how much he improved and by the time he started kindergarten this year, he was right on track. I am SO glad I didn't listen to everyone who said he was "fine" and got him the help he needed. And as a bonus, his speech therapist has become one of my best friends!

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    1. I so love hearing all of this! I don't understand why people feel the need to insist a child is "fine" if a mother is saying something's up. We really do know best.

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  5. My son was born at 32w and when the social worker at the NICU came to tell us that a nurse suggested a PT evaluation with EI after discharge you would have thought they were coming to tell me I had to give my baby back or something horrible! The somber tone they approached us with laughable once they started tell us. I stopped her to laugh and said, "absolutely, let's set it up. If he's entitled to services we will welcome them", perhaps having a background in Speech helped but I never fully understood why anyone would be ashamed or afraid of getting help for their children. He got PT from 12 weeks until he was a little over a year old. When our quarterly surveys after services ended suggested he was falling behind in Speech I called up and got another eval done. He qualified and now he's the most well spoken 2 year old I know. Sure, we could have waited to see if language developed on it's own, but why? Why wait and see when it was clear to us that he was getting frustrated not being able to communicate effectively.

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    1. Exactly: Why wait? Glad your son is doing well, too. Early Intervention: IT WORKS. They need a slogan!

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  6. Ah, sometimes your posts leave me choked up at the end. I love the way your kids love each other. Good vibes being sent Ben's way. I know he'll do great!


    Paige
    http://thehappyflammily.com

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  7. You are so lucky that the
    EI is so readily available in your community! There are wait lists in mine that children age out of before receiving services. It's so sad.

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    1. I am really sorry to hear this—that is really sad. What state are you in? Is the basic problem that there are not enough therapists, or funds, or both?

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  8. My son gets early intervention services in England, and it's very useful. Having said that I have to say I am hardly convinced it's needed in Ben's case from everything I can see. He has good receptive language, right? And there don't seem to be any motor issues as he does babble and say a few words. Speech development is so variable among toddlers. In most parts of Europe speech therapy is not really begun until the age of 3. There is a risk of overdiagnosis, and misplaced claims of therapy success. Yes you might say, but where's the harm? And I would say it's best to let children develop at their own pace unless there is a clear identifiable problem, otherwise you go down the slippery slope of pathologizing everything. Sorry, but just my 2 cents

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  9. It's great to hear about your approach to early intervention the second time around. I dig your attitude- especially the gratitude and authenticity.

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Thanks for sharing!



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