Early Intervention

We had our evaluation with Early Intervention this morning. The case manger and physical therapist were nice enough to come out to our home so we didn't even have to worry about going anywhere. I had called my pediatrician a few weeks ago and let her know that I was having some concerns about some developmental delays I was noticing with Perron. He was/is having a really hard time with some visual aspects of development-tracking in particular, as well as issue with sound location. My pediatrician said that due to his prematurity it was probably best to go ahead and see if he qualified for early intervention services, since in these kind of circumstances the earlier we start getting him help the better off he will be.

For those of you that don't live in the land of prematurity, early intervention is a state run service where they provide free therapeutic services to children that show a 25% or greater developmental delay in several core developmental areas. The therapist and case manager took Perron through two different tests. The physical therapist used the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale to help determine Perron's fine and gross motor skills. The case manager used a test that i think was called IDA (don't know what it stands for). The bottom line is that Perron does qualify for early intervention services. His inability to track object, his trouble with eye contact, and his inability to locate sounds were all reasons for concern and put him in the 1 to 2 month range developmentally (he is 4 months actual, 12 weeks adjusted). They also noticed some issues with increased tone and with him keeping his little hands in a fist all the time. Increased tone basically means he is a little more rigid than a baby his age should be. She said these could just be transient issues (and I was very strong and muscular as a baby) or they could be markers for a larger problem. Because of his prematurity he is at an increased risk for cerebal palsy, but they do not think that is an issue...he is just exhibiting a couple of markers for it.

He will start meeting with a physical therapist once a week and when he gets a little older they will add in occupational therapy as well. they have set us up with an appointment at the UAB Eye Center with a specialist in pediatric opthamology. We will see them next Friday. We will also be working with a specialist at the Alabama School for the Deaf and Blind. They assured me not to get freaked out by the Alabama School for Deaf and Blind part...they do not think he is either deaf or blind....that just happens to be who the lady is contracted through. He qualifies for these services for up to 3 years and at a minimum for one year. At his one year marker, we will do another assessment to determine whether we need to continue on with therapy or not. As I mentioned all of these services are free to us.

We of course would prefer that Perron was developing normally and not showing any signs of delay; however, since he is showing delay, we are very pleased that we have gotten this caught at the earliest possible point. We will take it one day at a time as we have with all of the challenges we have faced.