Easter at the Darter's

Results from all of the evaluations are finally in!

Hola, amigos! (Been hangin' out with the Ramirez's!)
Thursday we recieved word (finally) that Gracie qualified for Occupational Therapy through Cook Children's. We had been waiting about 3 or so weeks since the evaluation to hear back from them. She starts therapy this coming Friday at 245p and will do so every Friday. A lot of people have been asking me what occupational therapy is. No, it's not "on the job training" or anything to do with an occupation. :) We're not putting Gracie to work. The economy is bad but not that bad! :) Occupational therapy or OT as it is commonly referred to is therapy that enables those with limitations to participate in everyday life. Occupational therapy is about understanding the importance of an activity to an individual, being able to analyze the physical, mental and social components of the activity and then adapting the activity, the environment and/or the person to enable them to resume the activity. In Gracie's case those limitations are using her fine and gross motor skills. Most of these things are being worked on already with Mrs. Morton (her awesome PPCD teacher) at school - so she will get some additional assistance.

On Friday Gracie and I went to her speech evaluation also at Cooks. It was so nice because after the testing they made us wait about 20mins. so they could score the test and give us the results before we leave. On the test that they used, a child Gracie's age (4) should score between 85 and 115. Gracie scored in the 50s. Her speech is at an age equivalency of a 2yr old. I was not surprised by this but did feel tears begin to well up. I guess to hear it and see it on paper made me a little sad and just made it more real then it ever has been.
Anyhow, they recommend a 45min. therapy session once a week, also. However, the report has to be written up and sent to the insurance company then we get placed on a waiting list. This all could take about 2mths. The therapist was great, though. She gave me a book and some ideas on how to help Gracie in the meantime. She is also already getting speech therapy at school twice a week. Hopefully, she will be able to start therapy at Cooks by the time school is out for the summer.
People keep asking me if the doctors have said why Gracie is having all of these difficulties. The answer is no, they haven't and I honestly haven't really asked. Because to me - what does it matter why unless the why helps us fix it - which it doesn't. The only thing that matters is that we work to fix it. The real reason why she's going through this is so that God can do amazing things through her! And for that, I think she is a lucky, lucky little girl! I don't need to know why it is the way it is and I don't need to know how it is going to end. All I know is that God is totally and completely, 100% in control of Gracie's life and that's good enough for me! (And her daddy!)

Therapy Evaluations!

Happy Easter, everyone! Just a quick update. Gracie had her evaluation with the occupational therapist at Cook Children's several weeks ago. I was allowed to stay with her and watch the evaluation. The therapist did several "tests" and Gracie did a great job and was very cooperative. They asked her to do a lot of tasks to test her fine motor skills, like cutting, drawing line, circles, crosses....many things that most 4yr. olds do that are taken for granted. Then they took her in their small gym to evaluate her gross motor skills. They had her attempt to throw and catch a ball, pedal a bike, jump like different animals, and climb up and down stairs. The therapist wasn't able to give us an definite answer but said she was likely a candidate for therapy on a regular basis. (I agree) They have to score their tests and write up a report and will get to me, hopefully soon. (Still waiting) This Friday is her evaluation with the Speech Therapist. This one is a big one for us. We know she will be eligible and are eager to just get started. One of our struggles right now is sleep. We assume her restlessness is just a factor of the ADHD but it is really starting to wear on Mommy! Gracie wakes us usually at 12a, 2a-3a, 5a, and if we aren't already up 7a. Most of the time it's to use the potty but makes her alert enough to not be able to go back to sleep. It's very exhausting and starting to affect her behavior. If it continues to persist I may have to call the doctor from Child Study Center.
As you see from the pictures below we've been a busy family. We've enjoyed Gracie's blastball. The games are too cute! Zade keeps us busy asking to see Matt's "mo-cycle" and when we call him on it and offer to take him for a ride he says, "I 'cared!" He's a little smarty-pants and keeps us laughing all the time! He's a broken record when he wants something. Here we come terrible 2's!
Thanks for reading and please keep us in your prayers when you think about it! Have a great weekend!

HCP Easter Egg Hunt!!!!

Gracie's first Blastball game!