Miss Alex ( OT )

Well we had our evaluation yesterday from Miss Alex - it was pretty lengthy but all in all good news. She feels that we should get a neurologist to check Noel for problems, Noel does certain things that a baby who could see wouldnt do, she moves her legs in and out, presses her eyes ( which we know is pretty normal ) for a child that has Visual Impairments, and she rocks a lot, whether its her brain telling her to do this or its just a behavioral problem due to her vision is what the neurologist would be able to tell us.

So next week i plan on calling her pediatrician and asking for a referral to see him, so we can gain some more insight into what Noel is thinking , doing etc......

Miss Alex had some light up toys that Noel seemed to catch a glimpse of - so there is definatlety the possiblity that she has light perception and thats good, we need to work on some tracking activities to see if she will try to track with her one ( what we call good eye ) we know she is definatley blind in her right eye.

So practice we will this weekend, among other things, Noel is recovering from Roseola , and double ear infections so were trying to take it easy on her until she is up to par.

OT visit today

Today a occupational therapist is supposed to come evaluate Noel. This will be really good for her and us. She can give us insight into what to do for Noel to have her explore more textures and not be so defensive towards new things.

I tried Mac and cheese last night with her, you should have seen the look on her face, she kept it in her mouth but wouldnt chew it, so we traded that in for Hearty vegetable stew, which she loves. With her twin sister Kendall I can show her chew by moving my mouth, but with Noel she doesnt get it yet.

Comments

"God gives special children to special people"
"God doesn't give us more than we can handle"
"It could be worse"

"Aww she is so sleepy "
These are some of the comments people make to me....ALL the time.

I did not ask to be special. I am very, very aware that "it could be worse." I am SO tired of these statements. I know people say them because...they don't know what else to say and they feel the need to fill the quiet void with random canned phrases.

"Its just her eyes." Are you kidding me? They have NO idea that my child is delayed because she cannot see the toy to roll over. Why do "normal" babies crawl? Because they want something. Noel isn't crawling, scooting,etc. because she does not know what is there.

The people who have helped me the most are those who have been the ones to not say a word. They know that they are not in my shoes. They don't try to be. They just listen, be there, and allow me to feel what I am feeling. I must process this. Each day is a journey. Each day there is something new.

Babbling

Last nite Noel was in her crib and we were goin to bed, well she is over there just babbling away. When i say babbling ( i mean ) making noises , sometimes she sounds like a tiger growling and moaning. I try to repeat Mama,Dada,Baba,Gaga but she wont repeat them.

I started putting her hands on my lips as I talk so she can feel the movement of my lips and that im speaking or making sounds. She seems to like that , as she smiles whenever she touches my face.

Her Vision teacher ( Miss Karen ) should be coming today, Im so excited to tell her that Ive learned the 1st ten letters of the Braille alphabet. WooooHooo - this stuff isnt easy though. I dont know them by touch but by looking at them, its a step atleast this way I will be able to help Noel with her homework etc.

Miss Karen

Miss Karen came again yesterday and played with Noel. The girls Developmental Specialist was there too at the same time, so this was really good , she told her about different things in blind children, braille, techniques, etc. Now hopefully everyone will be on the same page in helping Noel.

Noel was really happy yesterday, we practiced sitting up ( by herself ) and singing row row row your boat - Noel loves to rock back and forth so this was really fun for her.

All in all yesterday was a good day for everyone.

Appt with Vision Teacher

So Mrs. Karen came yesterday, she comes for an hour, I only got to see her for 15 min because I get off later, but she leaves me a sheet to tell me what to work with Noel on and how she did. Mrs. Karen says Noel has visual curiosity, we are not sure about light perception and so on. She said its great that Noel doesnt mind touching the grass, with her feet and hands, a lot of kids with visual impairments are tactile challenged, so far so good with Noel, she doesnt really care for feathery things but we are working on it. Tonite I think I will make some spaghetti and let her put her hands in the bowl and play with it.

Also we got our package from Seedlings, they sent Noel a book, what looks like a dog toy rubber knobby ball, a book for Paul and I to teach us Braille- looks very complicated, and a few other books to help incorporate different things for Noel.

Karen our vision teacher is coming today

Raising a visually impaired child is very different then a sighted child. Noel can't see the things that her twin does, she doesnt react like her sister does. Noel loves music and to touch different textures, this teaches her about her surroundings.

Today Noel has an appointment with the vision teacher Karen. She works for the School for the Blind and is a preschool teacher there. She comes to our home once a week and works with Noel and us to teach different things, show us stuff we can do for Noel to make her more independent.