No Shame in Early Intervention

As a special education teacher, I know the importance of Early Intervention (E.I.). But now, faced with it as a parent, I understand a lot more.  I now understand it all from the parent perspective. You want to get your child help, but it is hard to admit that something is not typical or they are behind in some way.  Every parent wants their child to be ”perfect” (whatever that even means). We got Little A evaluated for early intervention as soon as we could—well there is a bit more to that story, but it is not necessary to go there.  With the help of a great friend and an email, the OT from the NICU sent a referral to our local E.I. From there, the process was quick in our county at least. A county service coordinator called and set up evaluators to come to the house. They watched Little A drink from a bottle (since feeding was a big concern); looked to see if he responded to sound (I knew he wouldn’t); and looked to see if he tracked objects to just name a few things. The evaluation process gave me very weird, mixed feelings.  On one hand, I was sad because Little A couldn’t check all the boxes, but then on the other hand I was almost rooting for him to “fail” so he would be eligible for the services. The evaluators were so kind and encouraging throughout the process. They kept saying “don’t worry we’ll get him the services he needs” and he doesn’t do it YET, but he’ll get there.” After the evaluators wrote up the report they met with us and the county service coordinator to create goals. At this first IFSP meeting, speech and physical therapy were recommended.  In New York State, feeding issues are addressed by E.I speech therapist. This is not the case in other states, so we were lucky with that. By the end of the month, Little A started physical therapy (PT) and speech. E.I also covers the cost of his audiology visits and hearing aids. Without E.I., Little A wouldn’t be making so much progress and we would have some larger bills to add to our plate. It is nice to have this support during this time. Little A’s 6 month IFSP review is coming up. He has made progress with his hearing—the BAHA’s have made a huge difference.  I love listening to him make sounds verbally or with his toys. Physically, we are told he is meeting the typical milestones and is where he should be. PT will continue 1x a week to make sure he doesn’t fall behind. Speech therapy is going to increase to 2x a week since he is responding well with the BAHAs to get him as much language acquisition as possible. As daunting as an IFSP meeting can be because you don’t want to hear about what your child can’t do, REMEMBER: he just can’t do it YET! He will get there at his own pace. Also, think about his accomplishments and how far he has come  When I focus on that for Little A, I am such a proud mama! Little A is going to be AMAZING!