Setbacks and progress

So, I thought that Ryan and Nattie were over their nasty colds. I thoroughly cleaned the humidifiers and packed them away in the closet. The day after I did this, their colds came back with a vengeance. Back out came the humidifiers, vapor bath, and baby rub. Oh well...at least now it seems like they are at the tail end of things. One can only hope at least.

On a brighter note, the amount of progress that Ryan has made over the past 6 weeks is nothing short of amazing. His language especially has exploded. He says a lot more single words than he was and even has a handful of 2 to 3 word phrases that he uses on a fairly consistent basis. Ryan also seems to be a lot more focused at times. He is jumping now. His hand sensitivity seems a bit less frequent than before. He's playing with his peers more. Ryan has made significant gains over the past 6 weeks and still has a long road ahead of him, but progress is good.

John and I brought Ryan back to Children's Hospital recently for a follow up to his evaluation that was done in July. The Doctor noted marked improvement in several areas. Overall, he's now functioning in the 20 to 22 month old range. She recommends that we continue with all of the services that he currently receives through Early Intervention and Building Blocks. The Doctor is also recommending a full day integrated pre-school program for Ryan when he turns 3 in September. The city that we live in does not have a full day integrated program, only a half day integrated program. John and I will push for Ryan to spend the maximum amount of time in the integrated classroom, as we believe this will greatly benefit him.

We are just getting started with all of the evaluations and assessments that need to be completed in order for Ryan to attend pre-school. It's a long, tiring process and we are very nervous about it. Going from Early Intervention to the public school system, well....it's an entirely different world. My husband and I will push for an all day program for Ryan. This means that he will likely spend a half day in an integrated classroom and a half day in a DS (Developmental Specialty or Services...I'm not sure what the proper name is) classroom. From what I understand, the main difference between the integrated and DS classroom is the level of support. An integrated classroom may tend to have more children that need less support. A DS classroom would tend to have less children that need more support. We would like for Ryan to receive the maximum amount of services that he can. Between Early Intervention and Building Blocks, Ryan currently receives about 23 hours per week in services. John and I believe that in order for Ryan to continue to make progress, he'll need something comparable from the public school system. We will do all that we can to make that happen for our son. Right now, we're just trying to take it day by day, meeting by meeting. We'll advocate for him as much as we can and will push for everything we can get for him. As Ryan's parents, we feel that these are the best gifts that we could ever give him.