I have not posted in a while. Claire has been doing REALLY well. She is starting to say new words, and imitate words we ask her to say. She is still very behind in speech though. She still sees Joanne once a week, and now she sees Wendy (who does JUST speech) every other week. Both ladies are angels. They are a perfect fit for our family and for Claire. I am so so thankful that God chose them to be her therapists!
Joanne is such an advocate for Claire and helps me understand processes/paperwork/what I need to do/who to call etc. SHE IS A GODSEND.
Claire was evaluated last month to be in the Special Education Program at the elementary school (but it would be PRESCHOOL) They would work specifically on what Claire needs. on what she is behind in. (We do not know if they think she needs to be in the program yet) My assumption after leaving evaluation is that she will need (obviously) lots of speech help, but the nurse told me from what she was seeing, Claire has a very strong refusal behavior. (I already knew this but chalked it up to her being 2 years old. But then when the nurse mentioned it, it dawned on me that she is VERY independent and ONLY does things on HER terms)
I think the evaluation went well (meaning, I think they got a good picture of how Claire behaves and what she can and cannot do) Some kids may cry the whole evaluation and that may not be a normal behavior and so then they would have to retest. So I am glad we were not asked to re-test.
We will find out on December 2 what the results are. An entire team of people are getting together to come up with a plan for Claire. (IF they think that this program will benefit her) If they decide she is behind enough in one area they will come up with a plan for Claire and tell me their suggestion of when and how long she should be in the preschool program. (2 days a week, 5 days a week, 2 hours a day or 6 hours a day. It is all specific for each child in the program.)
Please continue to pray for Claire. I really believe God's hand is on her life as he has used Claire to answer a lot of prayers in a tangible way. He has shown me that He is in control and He's got this.
"Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10
We would be so grateful for any more donations on her gofundme page. I am stunned and just full of joy, hope and GRATITUDE seeing all the donations in the past couple months. It is a HUGE weight lifted off of our family. We had a big chunk of time with no insurance and so the bills became enourmous. The amount just snowballed and felt impossible to ever pay off. BUT GOD IS GOOD and HE IS FAITHFUL. With man, things are impossible. When I am in control, LOTS of things are impossible. But when I handed over the ropes to GOD, he showed me that all things are POSSIBLE. WITH HIM. Seriously, I never in my wildest dreams thought people would donate $9,000 to help us. Crazy.
If it is on your heart to donate or share the link it is posted below:
http://www.gofundme.com/clairetdobbs
