If you didn’t already know, I’m a big advocate for Early Intervention. I think there’s no better program for not only easing concerns about developmental delays, but for working toward resolving them.
Last month I asked Jenny of Special Considerations if she would mind telling me about her Early Intervention experience. I was pleased to have her respond enthusiastically and quickly with a post about her son Jackson’s time with EI (he has since aged out). I’m pleased to share it with you now…
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At six months of age, my son Jackson seemed like a happy, typically developing child. Over the next few months though, I began to notice he wasn’t doing many things that other babies his age were able to do (sitting up on his own, babbling consonant sounds, feeding himself, holding a cup, etc.). At his nine month appointment, our pediatrician also expressed concern that he was delayed and recommended getting an evaluation from ECI (Early Childhood Intervention).
I experienced a range of emotions at that time: shock, grief, a sense of failure. And then there was part of me that thought all of this was silly, that all children develop differently, and that maybe the doctor was just overreacting.
But after reading and talking to some people who explained the tremendous benefits of early intervention if there is a delay, we went ahead and set up the evaluation with ECI.
I must admit that I was skeptical. ECI is a federal program, which means ECI agencies receive much of their funding from the government. And, honestly, I wasn’t sure that a government funded program would be that great of a program! I felt sure that we would find better services through private therapy.
Despite these concerns, we decided to give it a shot. After all, it was free (as long as our insurance paid a portion of the cost, we wouldn’t be charged anything for therapy services)! Jackson was evaluated and qualified for services. He began receiving physical therapy once a week and occupational therapy twice a month.
The therapists who came out to our house were wonderful. They were pleasant, professional, extremely competent, and seemed to love working with kids. And, did you catch what I said, they came out to our house! I cannot emphasize enough how nice it was to not have to load Jackson in the car every time he had therapy. They were able to work with him in an environment in which he was comfortable and were able to show me ways I could work with him at home.
Within two months, we could already see progress. He learned to sit up and to crawl right before his first birthday – we were so happy for him!
Around this time, an MRI revealed that Jackson had some brain abnormalities (microcephaly and reduced white matter) which meant his development would most likely continue to be significantly delayed. As we grieved over this news and began seeing countless doctors to try to find more answers, we kept hearing the same thing again and again. Each specialist we saw praised our pediatrician for recognizing these delays and recommending ECI as early as he did. Though no doctor we saw could give us a diagnosis, they all told us that we were doing the best thing we could for Jackson by starting him in therapy so early.
Over the next two years, we continued to receive PT, OT, and also speech therapy through ECI. Jackson made tremendous progress and we grew to dearly love our ECI therapists. There is no doubt in my mind that he received the best therapy services available.
Jackson turned three this past month. He is now walking, finger feeding himself, drinking out of a straw, and has about 15 word approximations with another 15 signs. Because ECI only goes to age three, we had to bid them farewell (and there were many tears shed)! Jackson is now receiving a combination of private therapy services and public school therapy services. We know he’ll do well thanks to the incredible foundation he received from ECI.
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May 12th, 2008
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Categories: Early Intervention . Author: Sadie .
