I don't really know where to start, but I need to probably let some feelings out and alot of people are asking about Evie.
When our sweet baby was about 9 months old we started noticing she wasn't doing things a normal 9 month old would do developmentally. We pushed it off thinking she was a 3rd baby and we had spoiled her. By about 14 months, she wasn't walking and flags started raising. When she was 16 months, she walked-but her gait was very odd. At about 17 months, I took her in for a well child check up and our sweet Doctor was talking to me about her development. I opened up for the first time and expressed some concerns about her development. My biggest concern being that she said nothing....not even ma-ma or da-da. After talking to Dr. Carter and our speech therapist at school, Greg and I decided to go to a private therapy center and get her checked out.
Intitial speech testing showed Evie had the speech of a 3- 6 month old. I thought that was heart breaking. Little did we know the next few months would only bring more emotion. Around Christmas (18-19 months old) we expressed concerns that Evie had some sensory issues. She rocks, hates her hands being touched, hates shoes and had begun to develop a huge fear of public places. Very quickly she qualified for Occupational therapy at the same center.
Our finances have not been able to support the very large bill that private therapy was creating, so after much prayer we headed for ECI. Greg and I have been nothing but blessed with amazing therapists, and again God put his hand on us with ECI.
Tuesday of last week, Evie had a few more tests done. Greg and I had decided that we wanted to continue private speech therapy but have ECI do occupational therapy and watch her overall development. They will also help us transition into programs when she turns 3.
Evie qualified for the ECI program being between 50-60% disabled in various areas. She will be actually recieving more therapy through them- and they are going to oversee her care. The initial suggestion for transition into the public school program will be for Evie to go into a Special needs classroom when she turns 3.....if we ever get a diagnosis from a doctor (another huge battle)!!!
We do not have any idea what Evie's diagnosis will be. Some suggest some sort of Autism spectrum disorder, some a sensory processing disorder along with a speech problem. Only God knows.
So, here we are. Never in my life would I have dreamed that this baby, that I was not supposed to get pregnant with- would be such an enormous blessing. We have a child with special needs. God chose us to be her parents. He has faith that we will be the best thing for her. We are honored, scared, blessed and a whole host of other emotions.
Greg and I need prayers for understanding and wisdom. Evie's grandparents, aunts and brother and sister need prayers for understanding as well. We have to learn how to parent a child with very random needs in an unfriendly world.
Tonight, we are grateful that Evie signed "cry" while her brother threw a fit- she is a beautiful blessing and she overflows our hearts with love!!!!
