Therapy Updates

A quick recap: Our early intervention program, Rainbows United, is responsible for all of Bailey's therapies unless we feel Bailey isn't getting the care she needs. Financially speaking, Rainbows has been having a rough time of it lately. It has been one of the biggest state budget cuts this year. We are currently able to schedule appointments twice a month. Bailey's team leader is a Speech Therapist. She is able to help with any sign language that we would like to know and she is "responsible" for recommending any other therapies she feels Bailey would benefit from, such PT, OT, Nutrition, Audiology.

Bailey was fitted for a right wrist brace in November(?) by Occupation Therapy. She has some radial deviation(her hand turns in toward her thumb) and we understood that the brace was meant to correct the problem which you can see here:

We didn't feel like the brace was doing any good so we asked to see OT again. The brace was adjusted a little bit and then the bombshell was dropped. I guess at this stage in her physical development, the deviation is permanent. Without an x-ray, she believes there may be a bone deformity that is causing the deviation. I also asked about her thumb on the same hand, as I felt it is seriously loose. I'm double jointed but she can have her thumb lay on the back of her hand and not be bothered by it! I was told it was not normal and there was nothing OT could do.

We saw physical therapy at the end of January and will be seeing them again next week. Bailey is at a higher risk of scoliosis because of her extra vertebrae. Our team leader noticed that Bailey was always rolling to the left and thought it might be an early sign and something we could correct easily. PT was very helpful. Scoliosis was not one of the things on my radar and actually had almost forgotten about the risk. We need to watch all of Bailey's new skills and make sure that they happen symmetrically. We are fighting her left leg right now when she stands. She wants to turn her foot out and we have to correct it and put it back in place. I'm glad she is coming back next week as I would like some tips on helping Bailey go from her knees to a stand.

Our leader brought a booklet that is used to measure communication and interaction of infants and toddlers. I started filling it out but some of the stuff (Is your baby putting 2 syllables together?) doesn't really apply. If I leave out the vocalization points, she is doing about half of the stuff on the 9-12 month list, which is where she should be at 10 months. We have added the words 'silly', 'good', and 'bacon' to our sign language library. You may laugh at bacon but if she is going to be a part of this family, she needs to know it!! Speaking of bacon, we were supposed to she the Nutritionist but see never showed and never called.

So that's were things stand right now. Hopefully, next weeks appointment will be productive in helping Bailey stand up on her own!!