For those of you who aren't familiar with Early Intervention (EI), IFSP stands for Individualized Family Support Plan...and we now have one for Joshua.
Upon a recommendation from Ethan's OT, as well as our own observations, we decided to have Joshua evaluated for sensory issues and developmental delays. He will be 3 yrs. old in July, so as far as EI goes, we don't have a lot of time. However, after going through what we have with Ethan, the earlier when can intervene the better it will be for Joshua in the long run.
It was hard for us to decide to have him evaluated because we just didn't want to "jump the gun" every time one of kids seems to have an issue. Since Ethan's development was anything but typical it has been hard for us to determine whether or not Josh's development was right on track or a little behind. Mostly because in so many ways the issues that Josh has are completely opposite of what Ethan had.
For example, Ethan was talking quite clearly and "intelligently" before he was 2 years old. Joshua is really difficult to understand by just about everyone else, except me...and even then, I struggle with understanding what it is he is trying to communicate to me. Ethan has slept through the night since he was 4 mos. old, Joshua hasn't slept through the night since the day he was born...(okay, maybe 5-6 times since then!) Ethan has/had many issues with upper arm strength, Joshua has issues with lower leg/foot strength. It took him much longer to walk, and still he's just gained confidence in doing some more jumping and running...inside.
That's just a few...and I know that many people may look at it saying..."well not all kids are the same"...but when you are in a family that has experience with sensory and developmental issues, it's never far from the realm of possibility that other children may have similar issues.
We saw Ethan's neurologist last week, and she's been following him because she is doing research in the area of connections between gluten and neurological problems. She found Ethan's case intriguing and wasn't surprised that we were having Josh evaluated as she pointed out his speech delay before I said anything. She also said she wasn't surprised because Josh had been on gluten for the first 10 months of his life, and it may have caused enough of an upset in his digestive system to throw off some of his neurological developmental. Obviously, not to the extent of his brother who went three years on gluten!
So, now we have a plan written up to help work on Joshua's speech issues, and motor planning. They feel that his speech issues may have to deal with low oral sensory input...which would explain the pocketing of food, over stuffing his mouth and then not swallowing or spitting it out, as well as his speech. As for the motor planning...they believe he has it all up in his head, he just can't make the smaller muscles in his body do what his brain is telling them to do. In testing him, he flew through the tests up to 24 mos. old. But once they added in another step to bring him up to a 24-30 month old, he started to fail the testing...he is 32 mos. old. Again, not far off...but enough that if we don't intervene early (see Early Intervention), that testing gap may get bigger. They also noticed he has low to normal muscle tone in his lower leg and feet muscles. This may explain why he walks and stands toed in all the time...it could also explain why it has taken him longer to achieve some climbing, jumping, and walking milestones.
Besides all that, they will be looking into some sensory issues like tactile and vestibular motor problems. After a few weeks of therapy they are hoping to give us a better picture of exactly where he stands...is it developmental...is it sensory...is it something else...or is it all of the above. At least, for now, thanks to EI, they come to us to do his therapy. Currently, Ethan goes out on Monday for OT, Tuesday for Speech Therapy, and Saturday for a Social and Communication Class. I am ever grateful, at least for a little while, that they will be coming to me.
Upon a recommendation from Ethan's OT, as well as our own observations, we decided to have Joshua evaluated for sensory issues and developmental delays. He will be 3 yrs. old in July, so as far as EI goes, we don't have a lot of time. However, after going through what we have with Ethan, the earlier when can intervene the better it will be for Joshua in the long run.
It was hard for us to decide to have him evaluated because we just didn't want to "jump the gun" every time one of kids seems to have an issue. Since Ethan's development was anything but typical it has been hard for us to determine whether or not Josh's development was right on track or a little behind. Mostly because in so many ways the issues that Josh has are completely opposite of what Ethan had.
For example, Ethan was talking quite clearly and "intelligently" before he was 2 years old. Joshua is really difficult to understand by just about everyone else, except me...and even then, I struggle with understanding what it is he is trying to communicate to me. Ethan has slept through the night since he was 4 mos. old, Joshua hasn't slept through the night since the day he was born...(okay, maybe 5-6 times since then!) Ethan has/had many issues with upper arm strength, Joshua has issues with lower leg/foot strength. It took him much longer to walk, and still he's just gained confidence in doing some more jumping and running...inside.
That's just a few...and I know that many people may look at it saying..."well not all kids are the same"...but when you are in a family that has experience with sensory and developmental issues, it's never far from the realm of possibility that other children may have similar issues.
We saw Ethan's neurologist last week, and she's been following him because she is doing research in the area of connections between gluten and neurological problems. She found Ethan's case intriguing and wasn't surprised that we were having Josh evaluated as she pointed out his speech delay before I said anything. She also said she wasn't surprised because Josh had been on gluten for the first 10 months of his life, and it may have caused enough of an upset in his digestive system to throw off some of his neurological developmental. Obviously, not to the extent of his brother who went three years on gluten!
So, now we have a plan written up to help work on Joshua's speech issues, and motor planning. They feel that his speech issues may have to deal with low oral sensory input...which would explain the pocketing of food, over stuffing his mouth and then not swallowing or spitting it out, as well as his speech. As for the motor planning...they believe he has it all up in his head, he just can't make the smaller muscles in his body do what his brain is telling them to do. In testing him, he flew through the tests up to 24 mos. old. But once they added in another step to bring him up to a 24-30 month old, he started to fail the testing...he is 32 mos. old. Again, not far off...but enough that if we don't intervene early (see Early Intervention), that testing gap may get bigger. They also noticed he has low to normal muscle tone in his lower leg and feet muscles. This may explain why he walks and stands toed in all the time...it could also explain why it has taken him longer to achieve some climbing, jumping, and walking milestones.
Besides all that, they will be looking into some sensory issues like tactile and vestibular motor problems. After a few weeks of therapy they are hoping to give us a better picture of exactly where he stands...is it developmental...is it sensory...is it something else...or is it all of the above. At least, for now, thanks to EI, they come to us to do his therapy. Currently, Ethan goes out on Monday for OT, Tuesday for Speech Therapy, and Saturday for a Social and Communication Class. I am ever grateful, at least for a little while, that they will be coming to me.
1 comment:
How is the potty training going, Michelle? Maybe Joshua's issues contributed to his not doing as well with the training as Ethan?
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