More evaluations & our 6 month report

We've had an extra busy week with appointments.

• Monday - physical therapy
• Tuesday - first appointment at the Phelps Center for Cerebral Palsy and Neurodevelopmental Medicine, Kennedy Krieger Institute @ Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore
• Wednesday - 6th (and final) assessment for her school IEP plan with assistive technology department
• Thursday morning - pediatric ophthalmologist appointment at Wilmer Eye Institute @ Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore
• Thursday afternoon - social worker visit for our 6 month post adoption report
• Friday - time with her ESL tutor (after rescheduling twice this week due to doctor appointments)

Physical therapy is going well, but her therapist is leaving the center where we see her at the end of this month. There is a possibility that she may decide that Alice can forego more PT if she continues her kung fu/tai chi and adds some strength exercises at home. Since Alice is happy going up to 6 days a week for classes and practices some at home, it's an easier and more consistent way to make sure she is working on her balance and coordination.

The visit to the CP clinic yielded a possible new diagnosis: CNS-NOS which is short for Central Nervous System disorder - Not Otherwise Specified, which is clinical for she has a neurological condition that doesn't fall under any specific category. The nurse practitioner spent over 2 hours with us. We also saw the pediatric neurologist for over 15 minutes, as the CNP wanted him to concur with her observations. Basically they found that whatever Alice has is extremely mild and they wouldn't necessarily call it cerebral palsy. Clearly she has something going on with her neurological system that causes some left side weakness and discoordination. She needs a "label" which is useful requesting extra services or accommodations, especially at school. We left there with an ophthalmology appointment 2 days later, an orthopaedic appointment in one month and we're on the waiting list for an appointment with the speech and language department. They did not feel that an MRI is necessary. Her CT scan done last March is completely normal and they seemed very satisfied with the quality of the images.

The IEP assessment with the assistive technology went well. Alice got to try a computer program that offers predictions for words as she types. If she can get the word started, but isn't sure of the full spelling she can select from a list of possible words. She can even have each word verbalized, since she is more likely to recognize a word by its sound rather than the spelling at this point in her language development. While Alice's fine motor skills are good enough that OT is likely to recommend that she use paper and pencil (with accommodation - more time, less quantity, maybe with preprinted notes rather than copying from the board), her speech evaluation states that Alice qualifies for speech services at least partly because she is difficult to understand. I suggested that AT work with OT and speech in writing a recommendation that Alice have access to the computer program because of her speech clarity/disability. It certainly will be an asset for that, and it also will reduce frustration for her and increase her ability to start participating academically and socially sooner.

The ophthalmology appointment determined that while Alice does have some mild tracking issues, they are very mild and only at the extremes. Her eyes are healthy; her vision is good. They did not feel that she has any problems with her eyes.

Our 6 month post adoption visit with the social worker was good. We have a new social worker. Lauren who we have worked with since our first home study last year is leaving the area due to her husband's job. We will miss her. She was an excellent resource and support. Pam our new social worker was easy to talk to, but she doesn't have the depth of experience that Lauren had. As far as the status of our first 6 months with Alice, things continue to go extremely well. We could not have asked for an easier time. I have had my issues with wanting the attachment to happen faster, but we are seeing progress there. Just this week Alice and I in our various outings have had the opportunity to walk holding hands. Alice is growing more inquisitive about our family history. She's spent time with DH looking at pictures in his genealogy program. Just today she asked first me and later her dad how we met! Then she asked if it was okay to ask us about that, if it was polite. We assured her that it was more than okay - it is what families do - share family stories.

There continues to be a tie to China, but there seems to be bonds growing here, with us. We couldn't be happier.