Transitions

So Cody is now 30 months, or two and a half years old so I’m excited to inform that Cody will be put into a transition class September of 2013. What that means is that he will be put in a classroom with a few kids and two teachers, followed by either his physical or occupational therapist and will be like a “getting ready to go to school” class. So in order for him to go to school, he gets transition testing of every area of his abilities, understanding, gross motor, fine motor, express communication, etc. today we finally finished the Understanding portion and he scored at a level of 31 months (a month older than he is!) so he’s smart and up to level of cognitive understanding as other toddlers his age! Even some of the higher level questions he was able to get, such as picking a knife when asked “what do you cut with” which seems simple to anybody but not to a young toddler. I’m both so anxious and excited for school because this will allow him to learn outside of the home and even develop more in his gross motor skills! He learns things so quickly and I’m so very proud of him! His speech therapist even said he’s getting more advanced technology for communication sometime in September when he will be ready for it. I don’t think I have quite mentioned how much I love these wonderful ladies. They’re so sweet and patient and I can just feel a certain attachment to Cody because of how hard he works and how much improvement he’s shown in the past few months! They’re even starting to see a little personality come out in him that they just can’t get enough of. Just as his OT said, mischievous activity is a sign of high cognitive understanding. He really is mischievous and sarcastic– already at a young age, I’m scared to see what he will be like as a teenager!!

Therapy and All that comes with it.

I really should be more responsible in knowing who’s coming when, and by who I mean the therapists because turns out I forgot OT was coming…and speech and specialist..and PT came too..so there were four specialists  in my house for hour and a half today and I apologize to everyone for that. What I liked about today’s therapy session was that everyone was there to help and put some input especially since every one knows specific areas in which Cody thrives and ones in which he needs more help. I learned a few things as well to do with him, He’s got a pretty long way to go for communicating because of his delayed gross motor skills, but I know that it’s slow path and with baby steps (literally) he will accomplish great things. Today we worked with a tech device in which he presses a square and you can insert different pictures and record your voice–it’s pretty neat. He was very distracted and reluctant to cooperate at first because of the uninteresting activities we were hoping he would do. Luckily, the bubbles came out and he showed them how well he can reach and his determination to finish the task. He had to press the square with the picture to “open the bubbles” first and then press the symbol to “blow bubbles” and every time he would reach and press it and succeeded in getting a billion bubbles blown in his face, he loved it! He worked so hard for that hour that he passed out on my bed as soon as we got upstairs. I’m hoping he takes one good and long nap, he deserves it. I also wanted to share something that actually made me really happy. A while back I posted a picture of Cody and a brief description of what he has and how he fights life with a smile on tumblr. Someone I follow, who is around my age, reblogged it and then had 53 other people reblog it– the purpose of the post is to raise of awareness about Dystonia. I’m really glad people are getting informed, I have my hopes high for a better treatment and cure for all people dealing with this disorder. They also mentioned that Cody will be having an assessment to see what special school he will be able to attend in the winter. Yeah you read right. the WINTER, instead of starting pre-school next fall, he will be starting as soon as he turns three. Thoughts and feelings? Anxiety, Excitement, fear, joy, mixed emotions. We will see what’s in store for us these next few months!

oh! also, I might really be pursuing a degree in Occupational Therapy. I’m already getting some experience and I would love to help other children like Cody in the future. Besides, the therapists think I’m already quite a natural 😉