Part of Elsie's recovery has been to go to therapies. Thankfully we got her right in to a wonderful facility that's really close to my parent's home. So, twice a week she has occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy all in a row. Each one lasts a half hour and she's done really well with the guidance these ladies provide.
OT: we talk a lot about Elsie's sensory needs...activities that help our active little lady to calm and focus. And we play in a way to try to keep her attention.
PT: Elsie's physical therapist has seen the most progress. When we began she was still really weak from surgery. So, one of her goals was to walk unassisted 50 feet. The first day she accomplished that one! She's also working on squatting, going down a step, and keeping her heels down when she walks.
Speech: just as before surgery, Elsie still doesn't talk. She babbles and she uses some sign language to communicate, but no spoken words, yet. At her follow-up appointment both the brain surgeon and her epilepsy doctor told me, "I don't see any reason why she shouldn't development language." Now that her brain is clear from the "fuzz" of that electrical activity, we should see some developmental strides. But I've also been told it could take five to six months from the time of surgery to see any big changes. So for now, her speech therapist is working on giving Elsie a new form of communication, using pictures to make a choice. We're trying to teach her that pictures represent objects that she will be given. So we've made little laminated pictures of food, toys and other things. We're hoping this will be a good system for both of us.
All of these therapies will continue when we settle back home. And Elsie will return to preschool which will also include many of these types of activities. With all of this input we're hopeful our little lady will grow and develop and learn new things at a steady uphill pace! Can't wait to see her continued progress.
