Evan's EI appt (long)

Telyco

It went pretty well. He was quite a charmer. He does qualify for speech therapy...so that's good that we can get that going soon.

They also want him to get his hearing tested because when she was shaking something behind him - he just continued to look at the new toys she brought. I'm assuming it's because he was so happy to play with new toys and books:) but obviously we want to rule out fluid in his ears. He's never had an ear infection - so I don't really think he does...but I guess you never know! I never suspected any type of hearing loss or anything...so I hope this is not the case.

He also qualifies for Occupational Therapy or Special Ed or whatever you call it - which made me pretty upset...because I guess I wasn't expecting it. They said he pays a lot of attention to what he's doing, which is good, but he is VERY self-directed and not parent directed. This is something that I never really thought about as being something EI can help with...but obviously we notice this as a huge issue with him. He does what he wants to do, when he wants to do it.

ALSO....they want him to be evaluated by someone else with regards to sensory sensitivities, just in case. He used to be SUPER sensitive to music and strangers...but he has gotten 99% better with that. But they want to make sure he didn't take those issues and manifest them somewhere else - as in maybe the reason he likes to run around places and not pay attention to where we are is because the lights and stimulation of the store bothers him too much. Again, I guess it's something to look at - but they didn't think it would be an issue.

They didn't bring up Autism or anything like that - and I was too afraid to ask although I wish I would have now.

They made sure to tell me over and over and over how this has nothing to do us as parents or anything...it just means that he needs some specific teaching and EI will be great for him. They were super impressed with him knowing all his letters so well...and he did great with the physical eye-hand coordination tasks. I was SHOCKED he sat there and played with them for so long...he would never do that with me!! But this is another reason why it's so good to have someone come in - since he definitely seems more open to learning from strangers - haha!

So yeah - I got pretty emotional at the end...it's so hard to even think about your kid having some special needs - even if they are few. One of the evaluators was talking about her family and she has a daughter with Downs...so she knows all too well how emotional it is to deal with delays and the ideas of what is "normal."

We took the kids out after and I got a donut. So much for my diet today. We also went to the outlet mall and walked around and I bought a new Coach purse. So a little food and retail therapy has lifted my spirits a little