We had our IEP meeting today for Cole to review his Individualized Education Plan and the services being offered by Loudoun County. We learned today that he has been offered 5 days per week of preschool starting in September in addition to 30 minutes per week of occupational therapy and 30 minutes per week of vision therapy. Although not official yet, we expect he will be offered placement at his "homeschool" of Potowmack Elementary where Reagan currently goes to school and where they will both go to elementary school.
The meeting went well and his goals have been set, however, we will most likely need to revise them after the teacher and therapists have some time with him to understand his needs. I did request an Orientation and Mobility Assessment to be conducted to determine how we can make his navigation of the school as safe as possible. When we went to Reagan's end of year party today he literally walked into a step when we were leaving because he didn't see it. He has trouble seeing curbs and other elevation changes especially if the texture/composition of the area stays the same (the curb is the same color at both the top and bottom). We talked about the special accommodations he may need and I am confident he will love going to school next year. He had a lot of fun in the classroom with the other kids today and quickly made friends. Reagan was a very proud big sister and introduced him to all her friends. And I can guarantee he is going to love riding the school bus! The only thing that could make next year better is if Reagan could ride the bus with him. But we also know Reagan is going to love Compass. We took her there to visit last week and she LOVED it. When we were leaving the Director asked Reagan if she wanted to come back again to play. Reagan quickly said NO. I was mortified! When Maggie asked why Reagan said, "I don't want to leave".
Hopefully the next time I update on the Bischoff Adventures we will post pictures of a fun vacation or something unrelated to education or a doctor's appointment! We are looking forward to kicking off summer! Other than work projects June and July are relatively uneventful!
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Reagan Turns 4!
Reagan was very excited last week to have mom invited on the school bus for a field trip to Claude Moore Park with her preschool class. Although a hot and sticky day, we had a great time on our nature hike. The staff was very knowledgeable and made the information fun and engaging. Reagan had a lot of fun listening to frogs, looking at wild mushrooms, seeing tadpoles and peering in a real fox den. Reagan has a built several friendships at school this year with the 9 boys in her class. She is often found walking hand in hand with Anthony or Nathan and regularly invites Raphael and several of the other kids over for a play date (although we haven't had any yet).
We had a great Memorial Day Weekend that kicked off with the 11th Annual Cascades 10K Fire Chase and 9-1-1 Fun Run that I have managed for 11 years. A successful event always hinges on many details that must be managed the last week before the race. After months of planning, I'm always relieved about 11am on Saturday. We had great weather, amazing support from all the volunteers and a over 750 runners this year.For the last four years, this weekend has also included the celebration of a new life, Reagan Rose Bischoff, born May 27, 2009. I never could have imagined how much joy and pain one little 8 lb 8 oz baby could bring to our family. We took Reagan camping for her birthday to the Glass House in Front Royal, VA with her BFF Abby, and Abby's parents, Patti and David.
It was a great way to break the kids into "roughing it" with running water, a toilet and bunks. We took a nature hike, walked in a rushing stream, learned to walk a tightrope and lit off some early fireworks. We had a great time and definitely plan to take them again! Reagan also begged us to have a Princess Party and after a little convincing we added that to an already packed weekend agenda. We had a small group of her close friends over for a Royal Ball. I think all the girls had fun dressing as their favorite princess (and one knight), decorating crowns and dancing to Taylor Swift. Reagan's new favorite is 22 (she's finally getting tired of Trouble) and of course the all time favorite of both Reagan and Cole, Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker.
Ophthomology and Physical Medicine Appointments
Wow am I a slacker! I am WAY behind on my blog entries. Cole visited the Ophthalmologist on May 13th and although we had to go during nap time, he did very well. Dr. Jeffries is very happy with his progress and said there was no need to start patching yet. YAY! Also, she said all surgeries are off the table for the short term since his eyes are looking very good, relatively speaking. She was disappointed he was unable to read the eye chart still so she sent us home with a copy of it so we can work with him prior to our next appointment. Once he is able to identify the shapes it will be much easier to determine is actual visual acquity. She did say his prescription changed slightly and recommended new glasses. They have been ordered but haven't arrived yet. The doctor wants to see Cole again in October.
We also went to see Dr. Sarah Evans, Director of Physical Medicine at Children's National Medical Center. We made this appointment back in January by the request of Reagan's Neurologist. We are considering electrical stimulation as an assistive technology for Reagan's high tone in her leg but the neurologist was concerned it could trigger seizures. Luckily Dr. Evans said that was not a concern and she supports trying the technology if our insurance covers it. Unfortunately I don't expect that they do and it's about $5,000. She also recommended that we consider Botox injections for both Reagan's wrist and leg. Although her physical therapist has concerns over it's ability to have positive long term affects, we've decided to try one round of injections to see if it helps. The recommendation is to do the injections in July prior to going back to UVA for another intense Constraint Induced Therapy program. Dr. Evans discouraged us from considering serial casting on her leg. This is something we are considering that will help increase her range of motion. Unfortunately she drops her toe which causes her to trip. Her current brace helps limit that problem by preventing her from pointing her toe, but it also limits using her calf muscle and therefore will limit her ability to strengthen this muscle (and is causing her left leg to be smaller than her right). Dr. Evans was concerned that Reagan may be toe walking because her left leg is actually shorter than her right. She has referred us to an orthopedic surgeon. Unfortunately we can't get an appointment with her until August. If Reagan does have a leg length discrepancy they may consider stunting the growth of the right leg or having to surgically shorten it. We are hopeful this is nowhere near our future. Dr. Evans wants to see us again in July after the Botox treatments.
Although out of chronological order, I'll share that we met with Reagan's physical therapist this week. She measured Reagan and didn't find a leg length discrepancy. So we are hopeful the orthopedic surgeon won't either.
We also had an appointment for Cole with his Early Intervention Specialist. Heather continues to be impressed with Cole's progress, although we still have a long list of activities we are doing daily to increase his fine motor skills. We also spent some time talking about Cole's upcoming IEP meeting and possible goals.
We also went to see Dr. Sarah Evans, Director of Physical Medicine at Children's National Medical Center. We made this appointment back in January by the request of Reagan's Neurologist. We are considering electrical stimulation as an assistive technology for Reagan's high tone in her leg but the neurologist was concerned it could trigger seizures. Luckily Dr. Evans said that was not a concern and she supports trying the technology if our insurance covers it. Unfortunately I don't expect that they do and it's about $5,000. She also recommended that we consider Botox injections for both Reagan's wrist and leg. Although her physical therapist has concerns over it's ability to have positive long term affects, we've decided to try one round of injections to see if it helps. The recommendation is to do the injections in July prior to going back to UVA for another intense Constraint Induced Therapy program. Dr. Evans discouraged us from considering serial casting on her leg. This is something we are considering that will help increase her range of motion. Unfortunately she drops her toe which causes her to trip. Her current brace helps limit that problem by preventing her from pointing her toe, but it also limits using her calf muscle and therefore will limit her ability to strengthen this muscle (and is causing her left leg to be smaller than her right). Dr. Evans was concerned that Reagan may be toe walking because her left leg is actually shorter than her right. She has referred us to an orthopedic surgeon. Unfortunately we can't get an appointment with her until August. If Reagan does have a leg length discrepancy they may consider stunting the growth of the right leg or having to surgically shorten it. We are hopeful this is nowhere near our future. Dr. Evans wants to see us again in July after the Botox treatments.
Although out of chronological order, I'll share that we met with Reagan's physical therapist this week. She measured Reagan and didn't find a leg length discrepancy. So we are hopeful the orthopedic surgeon won't either.
We also had an appointment for Cole with his Early Intervention Specialist. Heather continues to be impressed with Cole's progress, although we still have a long list of activities we are doing daily to increase his fine motor skills. We also spent some time talking about Cole's upcoming IEP meeting and possible goals.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
March for Babies 2013
It has been a very busy month! We had a great day walking for healthy babies at the Reston March for Babies walk to raise money for the March of Dimes. We want to thank everyone who came to support us at the walk and all the amazing people who supported us financial and emotionally. As you can imagine, there is always a flood of emotions at the walk for our family. But we raised over $3,500 and are very hopeful that more babies will be born healthier because of this donation. [Remember - you can click on these pictures to see them larger.]
We also had a great Mother's Day with the Schweisthal family getting some much needed hedge trimming done. Many hands make light work! Reagan decided she was very good at weeding and Cole is getting very good at steering the tractor.
We have a busy month start this week with an appointment for Cole with the ophthalmologist and an appointment for Reagan with the Physiatrist. We also have Reagan's 4 year check-up, Cole's IEP meeting, Reagan's regularly scheduled therapy six times and Cole's regular monthly occupational therapy. Also, we have started talking about scheduling another constraint camp at UVA. We have seen such great progress and if we don't go before school starts we would have to take her out of school again. If we don't want to do that, we would need to wait a full year for her to go again next Summer. Reagan has been showing so much progress - this month she started holding her toothbrush with lefty and putting tooth paste on her tooth brush by herself. She is also flushing the toilet with lefty, has opened a door knob a few times with lefty and is able to undress all by herself! Seeing how proud she becomes is priceless!
This month we also had Cole's eligibility meeting with Loudoun County Public Schools. After the initial appointment and all the individual evaluations, we met to hear a recap from everyone who evaluated Cole to determine if he needs services. I find these appointments cause such an internal struggle for me. I go to the appointment having prepared like it is an interview. And yet I am the customer right? So why am I the one who is nervous? As a parent, you sit and listen to each specialist walk through their assessment and list all the challenges that your child faces. One by one they vote whether your child is challenged enough to require support. And although you are there because you want him to be eligible for services, it's truly heartbreaking to hear one person after another pointing out all his faults. The tears welled in my eyes as I was reminded of the uphill battle he will face in school, and yet all I could think about was how far he has come. How much he has overcome already. And how lucky we are to even be able to consider sending him to a special needs program at all. I know we are blessed to have such a strong little fighter in our family, but it's still hard to hear your "case" and realize this team reviews so many of these that for some of them this is merely another check box and stamp on his paper. So the next step in the process is to have his Individual Education Plan written to determine what services he is eligible for. Our IEP review meeting is May 28th and we will then know what to expect for him next year.
This month I was also asked to participate in a video with Comcast News Channel 28 out of Reston. House of Representatives Delegate Plum held an interview with Dr. Baker from INOVA Children's Hospital and me to talk about prematurity and how funding from the March of Dimes helps babies be born healthier. The video will be broadcast the first week of June.
We also had a great Mother's Day with the Schweisthal family getting some much needed hedge trimming done. Many hands make light work! Reagan decided she was very good at weeding and Cole is getting very good at steering the tractor.
We have a busy month start this week with an appointment for Cole with the ophthalmologist and an appointment for Reagan with the Physiatrist. We also have Reagan's 4 year check-up, Cole's IEP meeting, Reagan's regularly scheduled therapy six times and Cole's regular monthly occupational therapy. Also, we have started talking about scheduling another constraint camp at UVA. We have seen such great progress and if we don't go before school starts we would have to take her out of school again. If we don't want to do that, we would need to wait a full year for her to go again next Summer. Reagan has been showing so much progress - this month she started holding her toothbrush with lefty and putting tooth paste on her tooth brush by herself. She is also flushing the toilet with lefty, has opened a door knob a few times with lefty and is able to undress all by herself! Seeing how proud she becomes is priceless!
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