IFSP headaches

It's that special time of year again for our daughter.  Since we brought Cary into our home we got thrown into a new world.  True, while our oldest child has special needs as well, it has always been easier.

Cary has so many challenges and when she came to us she was not even meeting even the most simple goals in her original plan (spending 5 minutes on her tummy without becoming hysterical.  not how they phrased it, but you get the idea.)  So we left them alone.

Then suddenly, slowly, goals became reached.  She tolerated tummy time, would take a bath, and even acted like these could be fun.  The bigger goals like sitting still haven't happened, but she is more willing to try.

Sometimes things move slowly with our county and sometimes you have to beat them over the head to get any results.  This time it was the latter.  After 10 missed visits from our vision therapist and her refusal to make them up, my speech person telling me her goals were really outdated, and every time I called they would promise me they are "working on it".  So I got tired of that after several months and called big brother  on them.

Amazingly, things started happening.  We have a new vision therapist starting this week and  new IFSP in the works.  With new goals.  PT and Speech both came and told me that they had to write a book on Cary.  The questions ranged from an insult to general human intelligence to things that really made me take pause.

It is hard.  And frustrating.  And slow.  And sometimes we forget at the center of all this is a child.  A little one with special needs who is missing out on what she needs to help her develop and grow.  So I am willing to put on my boxing gloves and enter the ring for my daughter's sake.  For her needs.  For her goals.  For her future.

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Amy Fields is a mom to two special needs children.  You can read about her adventures in adoption and her new pet rabbit at Many Kinds of Families.