Early intervention and therapy oh my!

Now, if you asked me in May how I felt I would have said that it was all TOO much! We had so many visits and multiple test done by different evaluators, at one point we had a panel of five all here in the living room to observe and evaluate my sons behaviors and communication skills. This was hard on my boy because he was so overwhelmed by too many strangers all at once. And geez I went crazy cleaning up like a good mommy before each visit ( this is still something I'm working on, cleaning is one thing but freaking out every time they come is exhausting!) but all in all within two weeks of the first time I heard the words early intervention...things were rolling!

So NOW I feel We were very fortunate to have such great services that act fast! *remember the window of time to get the most of therapies is early..

[So if you are just starting out the very first thing to do is self refer to your local early intervention program. Most are free or fee based. Don't be scared of the fees, if any they are minimal. They will call you promptly to start the interview for initial qualifications and go from there. Everyone I spoke to and interacted with we're very personable and professional. My advice is have a note book ready and keep all the hand outs in order and be prepared to take notes as needed]

The testing that Jojo got was done by a developmental specialist and speech therapist. They used the DAYC REEL 3 test. Here are his results:
Area of dev.  Score.  Delay
Cognitive. Ss73. Moderate
Fine motor. Ss70. Moderate
Social/emotional ss60. Significant delay
Adaptive. Ss74. Moderate
Language
Receptive Lang score <55  these are all considered significant delays ):
Expressive Lang score <55
Total language score<46 
Gross motor is age appropriate! He is a runner.

After the test are done and they find you eligible for services, take a deep breathe! For me it was hard to see jojo doing therapy. It was nothing but fun for him but I felt like I should have been doing those things too. I realized he did better if I shadowed and then stepped away to another room. He was more attentive and actually could do what they showed him. It was so amazing to see my lil guy grab a tiny pompom and put it in the bowl.
It's all about the little things each day.
A smile
A sign language use
A beautiful messy painting
A two hour naptime

We are now working on the final stages of setting up the 25hr/week ABA therapy.  This is applied behavior analysis therapy and from what I have read and heard this is the most important to get going!  Its alot of red tape with insurance companies but once you feel empowered you kinda just go into mommy advocate mode and don't accept no for an answer, there is always a way!!