Early Intervention

Lucy was evaluated by early intervention this past week. I was concerned with both girls' physical development in the early parts of the summer. It seemed most children their age were crawling and they still weren't. I texted a physical therapist I worked with and she offered to come look at them, but said that they were probably fine. I didn't have her come because I wasn't hugely concerned. Then Lucy broke her leg. 

Within the first week or so of Lucy getting her cast Clara started crawling. Although she's still not advanced by any means, Clara is still doing fine. She's currently crawling everywhere, moving in and out of sitting, walking behind a walker independently, and pulling to stand on everything. I'm no longer worried about her. 

Lucy, on the other hand, spent 5 weeks in a cast. The first night she came home she was moving all over the place. Since then she's been reluctant to do much. She's really not even rolling over consistently. She'll pull to stand if she holds on to your fingers but prefers to sit and play. She doesn't tolerate a lot of tummy time now. When she stands she's shaky and can't last long. Also, she has horrible posture and doesn't sit up tall like her sister. She has started to pivot and turn around while sitting. Whenever she does to much she seems to have a lot of pain at night. The other day W did a lot of standing with her and then that night was awful. She cried so much and was inconsolable. I think she was in pain as she just couldn't get comfortable. 

I do early intervention evaluations so I know how they work. I know a child has to have a "significant delay" in one developmental area as one way to qualify for services. I had a feeling the sooner after getting the cast off that I had her evaluated, the more likely she would qualify. Considering I was concerned with her physical skills prior to the cast it's no surprise I was looking to physical therapy as a good thing. So, the day after the cast came off I made a referral to early intervention. 

Her evaluation was this past Wednesday. I honestly had no idea whether she would qualify or not because I don't evaluate kids when the concern is their physical development. I evaluate when the concern is their speech and language development. 

Lucy qualified for physical therapy due to her not consistently rolling, transitioning in and out of sitting, getting on her hands and knees, etc. The therapist also blamed her poor posture on her having a weak core. Within the next few weeks a physical therapist will start coming to the house to provide services. I'm not sure how frequently at this point but my guess is that it will be once a week. 

I'm hoping Lucy won't take long to catch up and be where she should be with her physical development. I'm sure she and her sister will be running in opposite directions before I know it.