The building was close to where we live. It was tucked away in a large office park, along an access road. At first, we didn’t think we had the right building. There was a big sign advertising the county’s “Mental Health Services” in Suite 200. That doesn’t sound ominous does it? Carrie wasn’t too happy when she saw it. When we entered the building, we saw a small sign that said “Infant and Toddler Connection Services Suite 260.”
We were in the right place.
The assessment took place in a small room. There were chairs for adults, colored block chairs for kids, and a lot of open space to run (and if you’re Shane, to throw and push block chairs). Our case manager, Janice, came in to say hello and then a Speech Therapist and Physical Therapist followed. Shane played. The adults talked.
Thus began the assessment.
Janice started by reading through her notes from her informal visit at our house. She went over concerns we had mentioned, observations, and ended by asking us for any updates. Then there were many questions.
They did a good job of making a friendly atmosphere, but it’s hard not to feel on the spot or like your parenting is being judged in that situation. I knew roughly what they were doing from my own job, but I don’t know enough about toddlers to know what they were really learning or listening for. I know I was at least a little defensive. A therapist would ask, “Have you tried this?” My oral response would be something like “No” or “Not really” and my mental response would be to add something to the list of “What I should’ve been doing all along.” I know in my head no parent is perfect, but sometimes you can’t help but think like that in the moment.
All the while, Shane ran around and loved being the center of attention of so many people.
When the questions were done, the therapists moved in on Shane. It started with a set of blocks. The PT brought out the toy and started playing with it herself. Shane picked up on its presence immediately. He ran to her and took over. There was a lot of playing with toys, running, and a lot of moments where Shane surprised me. He stayed focused on the toys much longer than I see at home and did some things I did not know he could do. What impressed me the most was when the PT pulled out a doll.
First, the PT asked Shane something like “show her the doll.” I didn’t think he knew what a doll was, but he picked it out of the toys. Next, the PT pulled out a bunch of other toys as a distraction, but there was spoon in there. Then she asked Shane to “feed the baby.” It took a little bit, but Shane did it. I was so astounded and proud. I haven’t seen much imaginative play at home aside from pretending to talk on the phone, because Shane is so busy physically running tearing around the place.
The data gathering part of the assessment ended after an hour of talking and playing. Carrie was stressed to the max and needed some air. Shane and I hung around in the room while Janice collected my insurance information. Eventually, Janice came back and suggested Shane and I may want to run around outside ourselves while the therapists compile a report. We hit the water fountain (and it hit our shirts) and played around climbing stairs and running in and out and in the building. Shane’s strong enough he can open some of those pressurized office doors if the handles are low enough he can get a solid grip (I say this, because it’s too bad strength isn’t something the therapists measured. Shane’s a little bull in my opinion).
Time passed. Eventually, Shane and I went back upstairs to hear the news. The therapists threw out a lot of information. Shane’s age was rounded up to 21 months, and he scored as a typical 18-21 month year old in all categories except two: expressive language (13 months) and socio-emotional development (15 months). The therapists said that the expressive language (speaking) was what dragged down the socio-emotional development score. It was what we were expecting. Shane has a speech delay, but seems to be developing normally otherwise (Hallelujah! It was a relief to hear that I hadn’t screwed him up too bad with my parenting).
I was surprised that Shane ‘only’ scored 21 months on gross motor skills, so I asked the PT about it. She told me that “The minute he jumps and gets some air he’ll count as 24 months.” Shane did some bouncing for them, but he never got any separation from the ground. The PT said the chart is in steps, and some steps are bigger than others. Shane’s doing great physically. She said there wasn’t anything she was concerned about.
The speech therapist (ST) had more to say. Shane has a working vocabulary of four words he totally “owns.” Uh-Oh, Dada, See, and Yay (he never said his approximation of “Balloon” while we were there). “See” was Shane’s universal word from whenever he encountered anything and he did not have a word for it. The ST started talking to me and giving some tips. She mentioned trying to teach Shane a couple of basic signs with his hands, always combing an action with words (duh), and then she threw something out of left field. She mentioned that Shane is extremely “sensory seeking.” So far, most everything that happened made sense or was somewhat predictable for me.
Sensory seeking? What was that?
The therapists both chimed in and started pointing things out to me. Shane ran in circles to get himself dizzy at one point. When Shane somersaults, he plants his head on the ground and tripods. Sometimes Shane will lie on his back and kick and scoot across the ground and (of course) he will sometimes bang his head when frustrated. I’ve seen all of these things, but I never came to the conclusion they did. It made sense. It also made me worry since these meetings tend to be about “finding weaknesses.” I was hoping Shane would rate above his age in at least one area –specifically gross motor skills. The therapists were quick to assure me that Shane’s sensory seeking was “not good or bad.” It was just a thing. Some kids hunt for it. They mentioned that some kids who seek certain sensory sensations may also have some sensory aversions, but aside from a few foods Shane isn’t averse to anything! (Well, maybe the idea of sitting still!) The ST said that one of the barriers to Shane learning language will be finding ways to meet his sensory seeking needs so that he can sit and focus long enough to work on acquiring language.
The next step was to develop a yearlong goal for Shane. That happens at an IFSP meeting when specific services are worked out. We had the option of rolling straight into it, but Carrie was stressed and tired, I was stressed and tired, and Shane was getting fussy after hanging around for two and a half hours. The meeting is scheduled for this Friday at 10:15 AM. Shane will be getting help, but the specifics won’t be known until then.
(I haven't had a chance to do a reread or check for errors or anything so....DRAFT! It'll probably stay this way, but such is blogging)
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