Our therapy sessions

It seems like it's been a while since I managed to update about our EI stuff (for lack of better term). So here's where we're at. We do PT, ST and OT each once a week for an hour (sometimes more). We will be adding another session of OT for Gracie next month as her OT needs, mostly sensory stuff, are not being met by her ST. For those of you who aren't familiar, here is the rundown of what each is and why we need it.

Physical Therapy (PT) is for Abby. I think most of you have a sense of what this is for. We've been working with Yemi, our PT for about a year and a half of Abby's two year life. Long story short we LOVE Yemi. She is like an extended member of our family. We focus on her balance, coordination, gross motor skills and strength. Right now she is focusing a lot on core strengthening and limb strengthening. Since we found out about her cerebellum issues we now know we will be dealing with lifelong motor, balance and tone issues.

Occupational Therapy (OT) is for Abby now and Grace next month. We have quickly fallen in love with our OT Nicole. I wish I had that woman's energy. :D OT is for fine motor and sensory issues. Abby's sensory issues are mostly oral. She tries to fill her sensory needs through her mouth so she has a terrible habit of shoving food, her hands or her toys as far into her mouth as she can (for sensory stimulation, or stimming) which can create choking and gagging problems. She also flaps her arms, twirls her arms and has serious rigidity problems with her arms and legs. Gracie's sensory issues are much more global. She looks for sensory input in much bigger, gross motor ways.

Speech Therapy (ST) is for Gracie. We work with a lady named Rachel. I think I've blogged about her before. We have some SERIOUS differences in opinion and styles but I am being uber patient to try to get Gracie's needs met without putting back on an EI waiting list. Gracie has pretty marked communications delays. She's almost two and can only say about 4 or 5 words. At this point she should be stringing 3 to 4 words. She can sign very well for age and we are working on that in ST. Her speech delays are most likely caused by the sensory and motor planning issues.

In addition to these therapies we have our wonderful social worker who is helping us in our attempts to get Abby enrolled in programs to help meet her needs. We also have a terrific service coordinator who makes sure everything on our EI "workload" runs smoothly. We have our neurogeneticist, genetic counselor, neurologist, neuro-ophthalmologist, ophthalmologist, allergist, gastroenterologist, pediatrician and our army of labs.

Sometimes it seems a little ironic that it took an army of people for us to get and stay pregnant. Here we sit with yet another army. Sometimes it makes me feel a little self-piteous but then I remember how frickin lucky I am that an army is available. So thank you to our personal army. You are all rock stars in my eyes!