At this point, I still don't know if Raquel is getting more out of school or if I am by being able to talk to parents in a similar situation. I think it can go either way right now. Raquel still loves going in the morning and happily walks to class, but she continues to be stubborn and wanting to do things her way. She refuses to talk to her speech therapist, which is very frustrating, but I probably wouldn't talk to her either. She's very hard to understand - even for me, a very fluent communicator. She's making progress in both APE and OT, and apparently getting more and more comfortable around the therapists she's seeing in these areas, so that's a good thing. The cup is half full, remember?
Regardless, it's great for Raquel to get out of the house and be around other kids and in a school setting. It's also good for me to be with the other parents - particularly the ones "new" to the system - and provide them with encouragement and support. One couple I met recently was terrified about having a respite worker come to the house and take care of their son. I shared some of my positive experiences with them, and they have agreed to try it out. Their first outing once a respite worker comes? They - husband and wife - want to go grocery shopping together. I thought that was really sweet, knowing how the simple things can mean so much in a situation like this. Another mother I met has been using her weekly respite to take her 7-year old daughter to the park so they can have a few hours of alone time.
Today I finally got the paperwork in the mail that I needed so Regional can schedule the behavior evaluation. Once this evaluation is completed, in-home sessions can hopefully resume again. It's just a long process. And I'm still on the waiting list to have her speech sessions done through Rady Children's, in addition to what she's getting through her school.For me, I continue to notice big improvements in Raquel. She's more expressive vocally, and is clearly understanding speech more and more. The other morning, she didn't want to get up and Mike said, "C'mon, Raquel! Time to get ready for school!" She answered back plain as day, "Don't want to!" and layed back down in bed. She eventually did get up and we managed to get her to class just in time.
She is also working really well with our respite worker, Christy. The paperwork I received today still lists my monthly respite hours at 16, so the reduction hasn't taken place as of yet. I'm hoping they had a change of heart and are keeping them at 16 hours, but only time will tell. Christy tells me every week how much improvement she sees in her. We are going to start a binder to keep track of her progress because it's so easy to forget new words used or changes in simple things - especially for me since I am around her so much. And it will be nice to have something to show her neurologist at our next appointment.
Here are a couple of recent pictures from the "feed" store. They love going there to see all the baby animals - and, of course, Gabby has to make every moment the most dramatic.
Have a great weekend!
