Goal, MET

On December 5th, 2006 Taylor started her first session of therapies to help her with her early diagnosis of developmental delays. She had physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and feeding therapy and play therapy with an early interventionist. Four days a week, one of her therapists would come into our home to help her. Our goal...to get her caught up! Her doctors, therapists and Conal and I have always been optimistic that she would be just fine, once she did catch up. She had a really rough start to life which seemed to make simple things like sitting up, rolling over and walking a bit challenging for her.

After a year of speech and feeding therapy, Taylor was discharged. Her speech was a little above where the average 21 month old's speech was. And she was now chewing well, swallowing without choking and able to use a straw. We still had work to do on a sippy cup, but we were able to help her with that on our own. Goal, MET.

At 22 months, as the early interventionist was leaving her job, we decided that Taylor seemed to be doing well enough with her OT and PT to not pick up another. Her case worker agreed, as did her other therapists. Taylor was almost two and she was walking (20 months), laughing and engaging play with other kids. Goal, MET.

Taylor spent the next 7 months challenging herself. She's very strong willed and determined. Head strong is an understatement! This child definately tests us, but I think she's gained that spirit by challenging herself and testing herself over the last 2 1/2 years. In addition to Taylor's severe food allergies, leading to her failure to thrive and lack of weight gain for over a year, she had constant ear infections and strep throat. In May, she had her adnoids removed, her tonsils out and tubes put in her ears, and oh my goodness. This little girl's world has opened up like we would've never imagined. Able to hear with full range now and focus on the world, other than focus on not feeling well, she took off running through the starting gates. It has amazingly flooded our hearts to see our girl grow, put on weight, develop a beautiful personality and a tender soul. All this time, she didn't feel well. The fluid on her ear caused her so much grief. Loss of balance, lack of patience, motion sickness, irritability, and many other sensory issues. Everything sort of fell into place. She was finally meeting goals in her occupational therapy. She was able to walk on the grass barefoot, and play in the sandbox. Vibration was a huge aversion of hers. Her therapist has been working on it with her since she was 8 months old. All summer long Conal would work with her little bits at a time, and sure enough...with time and tolerance, she started to react positively. She will now play with toys that she was unable to touch or engage with before. She can ride in a car without getting sick and/or crying because it hurt. Her fine motor skills have developed beautifuly. She can button and zip and is working on snaps. She can lace, and draw and stack. Yesterday, Ms. Dina tested Taylor to see her skills and Taylor has passed them all, with MORE than flying colors! Goal, MET.

Taylor will have one more OT therapy session next Wednesday and then she will be discharged. (Ms. Dina will still remain a part of our family, as she's Hayden's OT too!)

We are still working on PT. The lasting effect of Tay's low muscle tone is a weaker left leg, weak endurance and she still has a bit of a struggle with balance. So, Ms. Denise continues to help her strive, and I'm sure in no time, those goals will be met too!

I'm so proud of Taylor. She's happy, she's helpful, she's compassionate. She's independant, she's potty trained and she's a problem solver. She's an amazing little girl who has definately tested my strength as a mother and an individual. She has taught me so much about myself in just two and a half short (albeit looooooooong) years. And to be quite honest, I think I needed that to gear up for our journey with Hayden.