Life here is full and overflowing!! (If I weren't dealing with it well, I would say chaotic and stressful.)
Theo and Ralph met their new therapists at Heartspring yesterday. We had some scheduling conflicts and had to make a change. It broke my heart to say goodbye to the ladies we had grown to love, but I think I'll be ok...eventually. Ralph twisted the knife a little. When he found his previous SLP's photo velcro'd to the wall, he started pointing to it insistently as if saying "where is she?"
Ralph and Zhen attended the Down Syndrome clinic in Kansas City last week. It had been three years since Ralph's last visit, so we had lots to talk about. When we first started taking Ralph to the DS clinic, he was on oxygen and I was dragging an E tank all over the hospital. Oh, how things have changed!
The psychologist recommended a behavior assessment for Zhen at school and also a private evaluation for autism. After observing Zhen for a while though, he changed his mind about the autism eval. It might still be useful, but he doubts that Zhen will be found to have autism.
If you know me, you know I don't believe in coincidence. The fact that my friend, Max from Ukraine, was in Kansas City that day, and free to have lunch with us was not lost on me. It was a gift. Maybe one of these days I can talk him into coming to Wichita.
Chipper had a birthday last week. He is 18 now! This boy has overcome so much and has grown into a fine young man. He has applied to my hometown university...gulp. When I think of all the trouble I got into in that town, I get a little nervous for him. He's a lot like me. Would you just look at those dimples?!
The next big thing coming up is Max's eye surgery. I can't wait to see him with his eyes all lined up. Sometimes I have trouble focusing on him because I don't know which eye to connect with! Then we will start the lengthy rehabilitation process. I actually have more hope than the doctors at this point. I believe kids go into some sort of suspended animation in the institutional environment. Maybe it's a protective feature of their bodies, or maybe I'm just crazy, but I believe he still has the capability to improve the vision in his bad eye. He does have extremely small optic nerves, so not sure what that means for his future. We will have to wait to find out.
If you know me, you know I don't believe in coincidence. The fact that my friend, Max from Ukraine, was in Kansas City that day, and free to have lunch with us was not lost on me. It was a gift. Maybe one of these days I can talk him into coming to Wichita.
Chipper had a birthday last week. He is 18 now! This boy has overcome so much and has grown into a fine young man. He has applied to my hometown university...gulp. When I think of all the trouble I got into in that town, I get a little nervous for him. He's a lot like me. Would you just look at those dimples?!
The next big thing coming up is Max's eye surgery. I can't wait to see him with his eyes all lined up. Sometimes I have trouble focusing on him because I don't know which eye to connect with! Then we will start the lengthy rehabilitation process. I actually have more hope than the doctors at this point. I believe kids go into some sort of suspended animation in the institutional environment. Maybe it's a protective feature of their bodies, or maybe I'm just crazy, but I believe he still has the capability to improve the vision in his bad eye. He does have extremely small optic nerves, so not sure what that means for his future. We will have to wait to find out.
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