Patrick was referred to ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) by the NICU at Texas Children’s. This is a statewide program for families with children, birth to three, with disabilities and developmental delays. ECI supports families to help their children reach their potential through developmental services. Because of Patrick’s rough start, potential lack of oxygen during the birth process and treatments, he was a good candidate for evaluation and Chip and I both agreed that if there was every a delay issue that needed attention we wanted to acknowledge it and get help as soon as possible. I had been watching both children, but especially Patrick to check for milestones. I work with them the same way I did with Elijah with lots of interaction, tummy time and stimulation through songs and visual play. I could tell that Rory was (what I thought was a little) ahead. Patrick seemed not too far behind…maybe about two weeks which is close to his length of stay in the NICU. I expected the results of this evaluation to show Patrick to be right in line with his age as far as development and milestones. I was very wrong.
The two therapists came to our home for the evaluation on Tuesday. They observed Patrick and asked me several questions about our day to day lift together and his “accomplishments”. Then they tested him in several areas checking reflexes as well as abilities to interact, hold toys, follow sounds and objects. At the conclusion, we received the following results in the different areas of development:
Adaptive – This is basically self care skills which at this point is just nursing and the suck swallow rhythm. : On Level for his age
Personal-Social: I understood this to be a self awareness – 4.5 Months!
Communication: 2.5 Months
Expressive Communication: 3 Months
Gross Motor Skills: 4 Months!
Fine Motor Skills: 5 Months!
Cognitive: 3 Months
Needless to say we are THRILLED! Both our boys are on the right track and ahead of the game. I am so proud of how well the are doing and especially excited that all that Patrick has been through, including his birth process, the isolation and lack of touch and stimulation, have seemed to have minimal affect on my happy, smiling and social baby. We are so grateful and just wanted to shout from the rooftops and share these awesome results. Needless to say, he does not qualify for the program. I asked if I could have him reevaluated just to make sure he stays on track and they basically told me that if I had concerns I could call and they would check him again but that they believe he will have no needs for their services. I let them know that I am a worrier and my expectations of my children are sometimes a little high so they would likely hear from me. They just smiled and said to keep to keep doing what we are doing. Our kids are amazing!
Fantastic news!!
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