Sarah's Appointments: Early Intervention

Three of the sweetest ladies you've ever met came out to the house this past Thursday to play with and assess Sarah to see if she qualified for early intervention. The appointment was at 11:30, and I must admit that I was a little afraid that normal lunch and nap time might make for a cranky baby. We filled her up with all her favorite foods around 11:00 and were in the midst of some high energy play when the ladies arrived.

Sarah took right to them, which is a slight change from her normal reticence around strangers. She sat on the floor with Dave behind her as one of the ladies played with her. They built block towers, threw a tennis ball, hid a car under a plastic cup, played with a little toy dog, and read a book, along with many other fun activities. Sarah was super into it and, with the exception of a few distracted moments, had a great time.

Of the other two ladies, one was just observing and scoring. The other was asking us questions and guiding the activities that needed to be done. After about an hour they were done with Sarah and she went straight down for a nap. They asked us a few more questions and scored the result of her assessment. They found that in almost every area she was doing quite well. We were especially encouraged to hear that they were pleased with all aspects of her speech and communication, since she was previously delayed in that area. The walking component was broken into "fine" and "gross" motor skills. While her gross motor skills were low since she isn't walking or standing freely, her fine motor skills were high enough that they outweighed the not walking. Thus, Sarah fell in a normal range and no further Early Intervention plan was recommended.

We were very encouraged by this news! This program has great advantages and resources and we are so glad that it exists. But their inclination was, as everyone suspects, that she is just fearful. And now that she is older and knows more of the consequences of not succeeding with walking, she is probably even more cautious or afraid. They recommended that we not push her to hard, but let her enjoy the practice. They also suggested that we put her in situations with incentive to walk, like a book just out of reach, but close enough that it isn't worth sitting down.

Sarah was amazingly sweet with these women and we are so thankful that, to the best of their knowledge, her legs look strong and joints work well. We continue to pray that she will walk soon, but are so happy to know that she should walk in due time.