Home Therapy on Pause

I often forget to include info on Lincoln's home therapies when I update, so here is a much needed post about that.

This past Monday we held Lincoln's 6 month review with MO First Steps early intervention program. Lincoln has been in First Steps for one year, so this is our second review. This is just a regular meeting between all of the therapists currently involved in services, the parents of the child receiving services and the family service coordinator. So for Lincoln that included his Physical therapist, Occupational therapist, myself and our coordinator. (Linc's Registered Dietitian was not able to attend.) We discussed Lincoln's medical health overall, his progress in all areas of service and any concerns I had.

Needless to say, Lincoln is doing fantastic physically! He is walking, basically running, kicking and throwing balls, bending over to pick up objects, helping to dress and undress himself. So Physical Therapy was comfortable to say that Lincoln doesn't need regular monthly services anymore!

Lincoln is also going great from an occupational therapy standpoint. His Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) is improving. He now is able to play with Play-doh, shaving cream (in small doses/thin sheets), play in the grass with bare hands, and eat soft cookies and moist cakes. (I know you're thinking, how terrible to have not been able to eat those things in the past! I totally agree!)

Not to mention that Lincoln no longer needs very specific movement to calm himself. (Oh, the days of the vigorous bouncing are over! MamaRoo if I had only known about you a year ago.) Lincoln also shows us that he is comfortable in the world around him now by enjoying car rides, baths and getting dressed.

Lincoln may show signs of some sensory overload for some time still, like gagging on food that has a certain texture he isn't used to, like pudding for instance, but he has shown consistent improvement and the ability to self-integrate, which is the ultimate goal. I have heard that many school-aged children are misdiagnosed as ADHD who actually have some form of SID. I am so happy that Lincoln has gotten the early intervention that he needs to help address his sensitivities and hopefully we can avoid problems in school, and life, later on.

Also in the category of Occupational Therapy, Lincoln has great skills to allow him do everyday things like most toddlers. He feeds himself well, he is starting to speak more and more, and he has quite the pincer grasp! Because of all the the above, Occupational Therapy was comfortable to say that Lincoln no longer needed his monthly visits!

We also discussed Lincoln's continued need for dietitian services. Since his weight is still below the charts, I enjoy having the nutritional guidance a Registered Dietitian can provide. But, due to the availability of a RD through SLCH CDH clinic, it was agreed that Lincoln no longer needed monthly dietitian services through MOFS! ( I will be discussing Lincoln's diet and growth in more depth in a post to come.)

So, did you catch all of that? Lincoln is going fantastic, and no longer requires home therapy at the moment. Lincoln's case has been put on what is called Service Coordination, which means that his case remains open in the MOFS program, but that he is not currently receiving any home services. I plan to re-start Parents as Teachers for Lincoln now. I had stopped these visits about a year ago since Lincoln was getting home therapy the service seemed redundant. We were also overloaded with appointments!

Once accepted into the MOFS early intervention program, you are in it until 3 years of age, at which time the school district takes over if necessary. Of course, I always have the option of taking Lincoln out of First Steps all together, but that seems silly to me since we have Service Coordination as an option. This way if there are any concerns between now and 3 years of age that cannot be addressed by P.A.T. I can always call up our MOFS service coordinator and set up a planning meeting.

I cannot say enough good things about the First Steps program and specifically the people who directly worked with Lincoln. They helped me in so many ways over the past year, and I know Lincoln would not have come this far, this quickly, without their guidance. It is wonderful to know we still have them behind us, if we should need to reach out to them. And it is even more wonderful to know that Lincoln no longer needs to see them regularly! Now they have even more time to help all of the other children who benefit so much from home visits.

Thank you First Steps!
Congratulations Lincoln!