The Story of My April Butterfly: Maggie's Development

Monday, March 3, 2008

Maggie's Development

Things have been changing for Maggie is a wonderful way! She is saying more words like: bike, stop, orange and book

Even more exciting than that is that Maggie is starting to really communicate with us. By that I mean she is using signs and words to tell us what she desires.

Blowing a whistle!

For example, just today she signed to me that she wanted something to drink. Before she would just whine and maybe point to water. I usually had to be already aware of what she would want, or play a guessing game until I figured out what she wanted.

Now she signs a lot and it so amazing to watch her smile when she realizes that she can finally communicate with us!

4 comments:

Cheryl Corine / Mom / Grandma said...: How wonderful for Maggie. Maggie is such a pleasure to be around. Her smile and hugs just melt your heart. Maggie tries so hard in everything she does, so when we get it she just beams with joy.
I Love You Maggie,
Love, Grandma; March 6, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Anonymous said...: That is such wonderful news. So excited to hear about Maggie's progress, she's a "go getter!":) Maggie, you're AMAZING!; March 6, 2008 at 7:48 PM
Anonymous said...: Oh great progress in communicating!!! That is so exciting!; March 12, 2008 at 11:54 PM
Darcy said...: What great progress! I can entirely identify with the guessing game, I've gotten very good at it! We use a few signs too, but Kenzie's hypotonia so effects her fine motor in her hands they are for family use only. Have you considered an Aug Com device?; May 7, 2008 at 1:43 PM

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Maggie spent the first three weeks of her life in the NICU... first to investigate an irregular heartbeat- cleared with a diagnosis of a wandering pace-maker and sent home at 5 days old. She stopped breathing 2 hours after we had been home... we gave her rescue breaths, called 9-1-1 and Maggie was transfered by ambulance to the NICU, again. At 20 days old Maggie was sent home with a diagnosis of mild Laryngomalasia (floppy windpipe) and an apnea monitor to wear for 6 months. At one year of age Maggie was diagnosed as Hypotonic and spent the next 6 months of her life being seen by a Neurologist, a Genetic Counselor and Occupational Therapists. She began early intervention for her developmental delays. At age 3 she began attending a Special Education Preschool. She attended a typical Kindergarten class with RSP help for fine motor delays. Beginning in 1st grade she began her journey through Special Education for intensive help with many developmental and cognitive delays. Beginning in 3rd Grade I decided to Homeschool Maggie through a local charter school. She still received Special Ed. services, but I was in charge of her daily curriculum. We began her 5th grade year by enrolling her back in public school. This year will either prove to be a great stepping stone to the rest of her education, or it will be a year to revisit other options. This is our journey living with a child who is Hypotonic.