This week I am thankful most for Zachary's therapists. I was, until recently, completely unaware of this program the Naval hospital offered that allowed children who were lagging behind in different developmental areas to get help within their own home. This is particularly helpful in our situation because the Navy only allowed us to bring along one car when we made the big move overseas to Guam. And initially we just didn't need a second car since I am not working, now its a matter of not seeming as worth it to purchase one when we have already made it half way through our time here. (We would like to save the money for a number of other things- possible vacation & our house fund.) So it is extremely helpful that Zachary's three therapists can come out to us.
We are only just beginning, the physical therapist comes out every other week, and has been out to see us twice since the initial evaluation. And today was the first day with the speech and occupational therapists, who will will be coming out to consult with us once a month, and give us tips and tricks for him to improve in his speech and his eating habits. The physical therapist is coming to help Zachary with learning how to walk, or rather, showing me how to help him work towards it. At 16 months, Zachary only scoots around on his bottom, no crawling and only in the last 2 months has begun pulling up and cruising. I am very excited and thankful for the new opportunities for me to learn how to help my son be were he is supposed to be at on these levels. He is a smart kid, above average cognitive skills according to the evaluation, I can't wait for the rest of him to catch up, and it will be such a blessing for all 30 plus pounds of him to be walking and not weighing me down!!
It is truly a blessing from God that we were able to get to this point as well. We discovered the program simply when Jon took the kids to a church gathering and someone who worked with the program happened to notice his poor gross motor skills and shared. She said she was even hesitant about it, but I am so glad she told us about it. What a blessing it has been even early on! Thank you Lord for opening this door!
What are you thankful for this week?
Wow, what a great blessing!
ReplyDeleteWe were in Guam in 2004 for a survey trip. We thought for sure we would be living there when my husband was recalled back to Continental Airlines. While we are thankful for being able to stay in Texas, a part of us is a bit sad that we didn't get to live in that part of the world. So very close to Australia and Asia! And as a halfsie (my mom is korean and my dad is white) Guam is one of the few places where I actually felt like I blended in! LOL
I just wanted to encourage you in your son's therapy and thankful that it is available for him. How wonderful that they are giving you the tools to work with him in-between therapies! That will make a tremendous difference in his progression! Our youngest had to have PT, OT, and speech therapy for 6 years to help him overcome a multitude of hurdles. If you were to meet him now, you would never know he ever had any type of therapy, and he didn't say his first words until after he was three.
ReplyDeleteYou stopped by my blog a few weeks back and I so much appreciated your comments on life over seas. I have some friends who spent much of their lives on Guam as missionaries and my FIL served there when he was in the Navy.