Early Intervention

A coordinator for Child Developmental Services (Early Intervention) came to the house today to do the intake paperwork for James. (Lest you think that we or they are incredibly quick on the ball, I should mention that this appointment was set up several weeks ago, before we knew about any of the hearing issues.) They'll send an evaluator out next week to see what kind of services he might be eligible for. I assume that the hearing diagnosis will automatically qualify him for the hearing-related services, but he may also need things like physical or occupational therapy. Of course, we'd be happy if they decide he's doing well enough that he doesn't need those things, but after so much time in the hospital we're sure he has some catching up to do, and we also want him to get whatever help he needs (and it would certainly be helpful to us to know what we can be doing to best support his development). So, we'll see how it goes.

The wrong diagnosis that had been given to the home health service had also been given to Child Developmental Services, so the coordinator had expected to see a baby with quite different issues. We corrected it with her, but it was a good reminder to us to follow up with the hospital to make sure things are getting straightened out on their end. (When we were at the hospital the other day, we saw one of the doctors who had taken care of James -- and who had been especially helpful to us in answering questions about his intestinal issues -- and we double-checked with her that this was definitely just an error, and she assured us that it was.)

Thanks again to all of you for your support and help. It looks like there will be some difficult times ahead, but knowing that we have such wonderful family and friends behind us makes even the bad times a little easier.