Fighting for Services

It's hard to explain the personal aingst that a parent goes through when fighting for their child. There are so many doctors that want to run unneccesary tests, other doctors who make a snap judgement based off of a 15 minute appointment, and yet other doctors who simply don't listen. And, apart from all of the medical logistics, the parent has to decide what they want to believe and accept.

Brandt had his Early Steps evaluation for continuation of speech and physical therapy services. I knew the direction this was headed long before the evaluation, I knew the speech therapist wanted to exit Brandt from services, so I did my homework. I went right on the government website, Easter Seals Florida, which funds Early Steps. I printed out and carefully completed their ages and stages questionnaire. Across the board, in every field, his scores were low.

So, the day came, and I was ready. Just as predicted, they wanted to cut speech therapy. I fought and fought, but there was no way they could dispute the facts. Brandt is just starting to do simple two-word sentences--and he only does that half the time. The milestone says that he should be making three and four-word sentences. Another milestone he falls short on is the use of pronouns "I, you, and me." He does, however, have a very firm understanding of "mine!" I continue to list off the milestones, and it became clear to the family service coordinator that there was no way they would be terminating services. Sorry Early Steps, you just met your match! Speech therapy will continue twice monthly as his secondary service.

As far as physical theray goes, that is never more than a two minute review of goals--this is his primary service due to the delays and safety concerns. There is no debating that Brandt has to continue physical therapy--he had a broken foot from tripping over a toy for Christ sake! There is still so much that he works on. His strength is growing, it is just at his own pace. He is working on walking on uneven surfaces (getting better), taking foot over foot steps(can do with assistance), jumping once (can't do at all), and kicking a ball (can't do at all). He will get there; it is just going to take lots of time and practice--and that is fine. Of course, he would benefit from therapy two days a week, but EarlySteps does not have funding for that. So, in the meantime, he gets weekly physical therapy as his primary service, and we reinforce the skills at home every opportunity that we get!

Of course, Brandt shows delays in his fine motor, but service providers are so limited. We have been on a wait list for a year for that, and I really am at a point where I just don't care. I have found plenty of reinforcers on pinterest that we work on. The biggest thing is getting Brandt to eat with a spoon and fork. He does ok with a spoon, but he spills more than half of his food on the journey from plate to mouth. Sometimes, by the time his spoon hit his mouth, he has nothing. All I can do is smile and laugh--gotta admire his will to keep trying! As far as the fork goes, that is quite a trick. Muscle tone in his wrists is weak, so stabbing the fork into anything harder than macaroni is a workout for him. The dexterity of the angle of wrist and fork is a whole other issue, much like with the spoon.

But, for now, we push forward with continued services. It is hard knowing when to push and when to just let go, when to trust the professionals and when to trust my heart. The one thing that always keeps me pushing is knowing that continuing services as a precautionary is easier than terminating and then fighting for them again when he enters school. So, for now, we will continue with services, as is.