Some of Montana's teachers at Kings Christian Academy gave me the contact information for Early Intervention for Wise County. I honestly did not know this resource existed prior to being contacted. At first I was hesitant because I had heard the OT in Kingsport was excellent with kids but after meeting I knew it wasn't the place I wanted to take Dacotah. Imagine being the mom of a nonverbal two year old and letting a stranger take him back into a room and you have no idea what they are working on. Sorry but I am a hands on mommy.
So on April 19th we did the EI evaluation in the comforts of our living room. From the initial contact their caring personalities made Dacotah and I both feel super comfortable. To qualify for EI a child has to be at least 25% delayed. Dacotah's as most of you know came back at 50%. This was the first time I heard "since your child is considered special needs", it was definitely shocking I figured yeah he had some sensory issues ad had some speech problems but special needs made it feel real. During the course of an hour I wanted to know more than the Google version of sensory processing disorder, I wanted to know if they thought he might be autistic despite he doesn't have decreased eye contact. The OT who accompanied the coordinator said most likely he didn't have autism but a psychologist would have to be for sure when he turns 3ish. With him being mainly nonverbal there isn't a detailed list to know for sure as of yet. My genuine prayer is that he's not autistic. I have been asked a few times lately if he has SPD if he is autistic. Here's something interesting most all autistic children have some kind of SPD but not all kids with SPD are autistic!
Anyway they seem to think the speech delay is what is throwing off his tactile, his social, and his feeding. Dacotah is still 70-80% nursing. Despite trying to wean him at one and 18m it led to a super clingy, wanting nothing else or a continuous nursing cycle every time mommy sat down. They confirmed his attachment is sensory related and will take time to complete. Their hope is that their speech/feeding and OT can help prepare him to talk and eat like a normal 2 year old should. Right now if I had to compare he is very similar to a one year old, but understands EVERYTHING you say to him. He is super smart in his comprehension.
During that visit a comment was made, I don't recall who said it but I was told I am a hands on parent and seem to be involved with my sons disorder. I was shocked and asked "he is my son why would I not be". Evidently in their experience they are treated like babysitters and most of the parents are hands off.
If anyone knows me, I am anything but hands off when it comes to either of my kids. You better believe I am right there helping as much as I can to make sure milestones and goals are met. Big sister Montana loves being on the swim team and I am right there cheering her on every day I can, and I'll be right there for Dacotah cheering him on every step of the way.
So Early Intervention has Dacotah on a rotating schedule one week he will have speech/feeding therapy, and the following he will have OT. These can be at home or out in public. So far both visits have been at home and I'll post on those in a new blog!
One question I've been meaning to bring up and I keep forgetting is why did Dacotah once say "daddy, beep beep, puppy, etc" on his own, now we can't get him to repeat them. It was as if they were trapped inside and he forgot them. So let's play hide and seek and go find them.
On a positive he has learned how to communicate yes and no. If he wants something and you get it right he trembles with excitement and nods his head up and down. If it's not what he wanted he throws both hands up as if saying all done and screams no no no. It's never a single no lol!
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