Physical Therapy (PT) - This one went as Rian and I suspected; Robinson has absolutely no delays in gross or fine motor skills. He's actually ahead of his age in the majority of motor skills. The PT said that we definitely need to sign him up for soccer and gymnastics. Apparently our boy has skillz! We did discover that Robinson has flat feet- I mean, completely flat, no arch whatsoever. The therapist said that if they aren't delayed or hindered in any way, that it usually means it is just hereditary. I have the highest arches known to man, so it's not from me....Family members- anybody have flat feet?? ;-)
Speech Therapy (ST) - The one went better than expected. His receptive speech fell right in the average category. That means that Robinson is doing as well as the average 22 month old as far as listening, following directions and understanding words. His expressive speech was below average, but surprisingly only by a few points- he barely qualified. I learned that certain consistent sounds and gestures that he makes are considered communication tools. His therapists feel that he should respond very well to therapy and we will start going weekly. His vocalization has improved so much in just 2 sessions that I'm very excited to see where we can go from here.
The OT (occupational therapy) will be next week and I'm looking forward to the eval. Both the PT and ST feel that Robinson may have some sensory delays. I'm still learning about these and am therefore not as knowledgeable as I would like to be before discussing on the blog. It's very common in preemies, because neurologically the sensory system forms at 38 weeks gestation. Robinson was born 12 weeks before that, so it's no surprise that he may have some delays. The types of things that are red flags are the fact that certain buzzing noises bother him; he screams when he gets his hair cut or if I try to brush his hair; he's okay with a bathtub but clung to me and wouldn't let go in a pool; he freaks out when brushing his teeth. Finally, they think his inability to self soothe and sleep in his own bed could be sensory related. Time and time again, friends and family members have told us to just let him cry it out. We've tried several different methods and our problem with CIO is that it's not a whiny/angry cry. Robinson lets out a panic/frightened cry and he is visibly afraid. Even when sleeping in our bed, he HAS to be right next to me, touching me in order to sleep peacefully. They said this is most definitely spatial and/or tactile sensory related. And I was so relieved to hear that they told me to never let him CIO, because we could do further damage to his delay and cause more issues. Phew- listening to your instincts is always a good thing! I am very excited, though, that therapy might help us with this issue. Any of you know that sleeping with a toddler does not provide the most restful sleep- I wake up every time he moves, which is a LOT. I miss feeling rested and look forward to hopefully making positive progress in this area.
So...to be continued. Overall, I love the people that we have met, thus far and am really excited to be starting this journey with Robinson. I think since Robinson has always been so advanced in motor skills and so caught up physically, that most people (our pediatrician even said she did this) brushed off the speech delay and other quirks as just something he needed to grow into developing. I'm glad that I kept pushing the issue. Even though we are SO very fortunate in most areas, there are still areas that Robinson needs help. I don't want to be one of those parents that sticks their head in the sand and just ignores the issue. I not only want to get him the therapy he needs, but I also want to be there with him and learn about how I can help him at home. It's a team effort and I look forward to see how far he can go!
