graduated

I remember the first time the AEA stopped out to assess Audrey. I was a huge ball of nerves and honestly was completely unsure of what to expect. We had already received tough news from the ophthalmologist and I wasn't sure I was mentally prepared to handle more (if you're new to our story, click here to learn about where this journey began). But we knew that introducing the AEA from a very early age was important to making sure our daughter received the help she needed to succeed.

I was pleasantly surprised when our social worker stopped by. She was so sweet and the assessment was easy and, in fact, enjoyable for Audrey. It was all about playtime. These activities were the social worker's way of seeing how Audrey was doing compared to what other children her age should be doing. It was honestly very fascinating to watch and impressive that something as simple as the act of play could tell us so much. And to my relief, everything was good and she was right on track. We also would end each appointment with recommendations of activities Will and I could do to help encourage her to remain on track.

Over time we added a vision specialist and an occupational therapist to our team--both extremely nice, supportive and insightful. I was so thankful that these services were available to us--and free nonetheless.

We had our one year follow up with Audrey today. For the first time, I wasn't a ball of nerves. I'd been through it enough times and things have been going really well so I had no concerns. This meeting started off slightly different. Our team started off with the discussion of the range of scores of where they would expect a child Audrey's age to be in. Audrey was consistently at the top of the ranges. Now that we have a diagnosis (I'll save that post for another day) we've been told we need to be on the look out for some learning disabilities. But in true Audrey fashion her highest score was her cognitive score.

While we have a medical need that would allow us to continue their services, all three agreed there really wasn't a need for them to continue meeting with us regularly to assess her since she's doing so well. She's officially been released! While I'm sad we won't be seeing our team every few months, I'm happy that part of our lives goes back to normal and that we have a few less appointments on our already full schedule.

Congratulations on your graduation, Audrey! Your dad and I are so incredibly proud of you! Each passing day I am blessed to see you grow and learn. Love you so much, sweet pea!