The first thought that comes to mind is...we are so blessed to have such AMAZING therapists on our team. They truly have become our extended family, and each therapist gives their all to see Ellie continue to make progress.
Ellie began therapy when she was 3 days old...that still blows my mind every time I think about it. While in the NICU she began seeing a speech therapist to help her work on feeding, an occupational therapist and physical therapist to help strengthen her muscles.
As we transitioned home and became set up with BabyNet, we started seeing our physical therapist (PT), Mackenzie or "Mack" as Ellie calls her, and our occupational therapist (OT), Sally or "Ally" as Ellie call her. It was several months before we were able to begin speech therapy (ST). Ellie currently has two speech therapists...Jen "Nen" and Erin "Een".
We are super busy during the week:
Monday - School, ST & PT
Tuesday - School, Sarah our EI comes to the house
Wednesday - School, ST
Thursday - School, ST
Friday - School, OT
Each therapy session is so important to Ellie's progress, and when I think back to how far she has come, tears come to my eyes.
PT - At 4 months old, I can still remember meeting with Mack the first time. She was compassionate and interested in learning more about PWS. She asked me a lot of questions about Ellie and her movements, tone, and strength. I was like a "deer in headlights," as we talked, but quickly realized I knew my girl so, so well and picked up on her strengths and challenges. Mack is so easy to work with, and has a great balance of capitalizing on Ellie's strengths, yet pushing her. She does a great job of making sure Ellie does her work...because Mack is all business when it is time to work. Right now, Ellie is working on safely walking up and down stairs, jumping, strengthening her core, and her balance. Recently, Ellie graduated from attending PT twice a week, to once a week! Progress, Progress, Progress :)
OT - Sally came to our house, and I can remember instantly feeling encouraged and at ease with her. Sally is a mom and therapist, that just has an endearing personality and sweet, sweet spirit. She motivates Ellie like no other, and comes up with new activities at every session. She has really helped me navigate kid behavior and development, and she is so, so smart. Sally is so encouraging, even when we have faced challenges...she makes me feel and know that everything will be okay. Right now, Ellie is working on cutting with scissors, stacking blocks, pre-writing (zips - vertical lines, zooms - horizontal lines, and circles), hand strengthening, and core & shoulder girdle strengthening. Sally also works on self-help tasks with Ellie and some feeding. Ellie's last session with Sally, they went outside to water the flowers with a squirt bottle!
ST - We have two of the most wonderful speech therapists on the planet. Speech is definitely Ellie's area of most delay, but I can truly say that within the last month, Ellie has improvements by leaps and bounds. When I hear her sweet voice and sounds come out correctly, I just can't help but cry. It is absolutely beautiful.
Jen is so positive, calm, and beyond encouraging. She does such a great job at explaining what she is working on with Ellie, and let me just say...Ellie loves Jen. She says her name all.the.time. One night she woke up and yelled and carried on for about 20 minutes, most of the time yelling Jen's name. Erin is such a knowledgeable, caring, loving speech therapist. She has helped us so much as we navigated Ellie's swallowing issues. Erin is a mom and a therapist, and has such a commanding, yet loving disposition with Ellie. She is able to get Ellie to focus on tasks like no body's business, and uses PROMPT therapy to physically cue Ellie with sounds. Right now, with both therapists, Ellie is working on building her vocabulary, the sounds p, s, h, along with refining m, d, t. She is also working on lip closure and articulation.
Therapy has been the norm for us since Ellie has been born. And yes, honestly Ellie and myself get burned out from time to time, I take it hard when she doesn't have a good session, and I get sad seeing her work so hard to do tasks that come so easily for many children. But, I step back and can't help but feel thankful...
- Thankful for what I like to call, Ellie's Dream Team...Sarah, Mack, Sally, Jen, and Erin
- Thankful that we have therapists always thinking of ways to help Ellie become stronger
- Thankful these therapists truly listen to our family's needs
- Thankful for the friendships formed
- Thankful that Ellie continues to make progress
- Thankful that they love Ellie
- Thankful for therapy
The Dream Team...Ellie hadn't been seeing Erin at the time, so that is why she isn't part of the group picture. Love all these ladies!
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