gold star report card

This afternoon was Audrey's follow up appointment with the Heartland Area Education Agency. For those who don't know what the AEA is, it's an agency that partners with public and accredited private schools to improve learning outcomes in individuals from birth to 21 years of age. We were referred to them by our genetic ophthalmologist as the AEA also provides specialized services and resources for children with special needs. Will and Audrey had met with Jennifer a couple times in the past without me (work was really busy and I couldn't get away) so I was really excited to be there to witness this follow up.

One thing I find really cool about the AEA is that they send the social worker to our home to do the assessment--talk about convenient! One of the first things out of Jennifer's mouth was how much change she immediately saw in Audrey since she had last seen her about 2 months ago. She was impressed by how much better Audrey held her head up and was looking around and was pleased to hear that she was crawling. She watched as Audrey played with her toys down in the playroom and asked us other questions about her development--how was she doing with solids? Does she seem to react to 'no'? Does she look for toys if she drops them? She also set up certain tests with toys to see how Audrey would react, problem solve, etc.

The findings : Audrey is still on track developmentally with other children her age! Fabulous news! We've got one strong, smart, beautiful little girl in our lives. Audrey, you got an A+ and a gold star on your report card today and your dad and I are so proud of you! Keep flourishing sweet pea!

If you're interested in learning more about Heartland AEA and their programs, you can find more information here : http://www.heartlandaea.org/