Friday, April 12, 2013

Adjusted Expectations

Everyone has always been so impressed with my attitude toward Spencer and his diagnosis. I've insisted that I expect typical milestones from him, and that we'd adjust and work as necessary. I'd been told that the first year was much like any other baby. We were working toward the usual milestones. Spencer had very few hurdles during that first year, considering he has Down syndrome.


Lennon (16mo) standing next to Spencer (15mo)

I recently saw Spencer next to typical babies at 14 & 16mo. One of them (not pictured) was, admittedly, larger than average. Still... it was a bit of a shock to see these big babies up and walking next to him. I mean, I know Sasha walked at 10 months and Ronni at about 13, but I don't really compare. I just watch Spencer working on his milestones and am proud. It was almost a slap to the face, a wake up slap. A couple days later we were at a meeting with just babies that have DS and everything just seemed so much more "normal." These babies are all close to Spencer in age and they are all hitting their milestones in their own time. We all support each other and celebrate each other's kids' milestones, even the ones that our own babies haven't reached yet. Just having them all be smaller, though, was a big thing. They're all good sized (healthy)... based on the Down syndrome growth chart.


Lily is 3 weeks older than Spencer.

So I've had to adjust my expectations. Spencer is still catching up with talking after having fluid in his ears. He is going to Speech Therapy once per week and it is going great! He is going to Physical Therapy once per month to just watch his development. He needs a little work due to his hyper-flexibility. His knees and feet point out. He often stands from a squat. Its impressive, but they want him to kneel then stand, in a healthier way. We're going soon for an Occupational Therapy evaluation to see if he could benefit from help there, too. In case you aren't familiar with OT, it helps the client / patient with daily life skills, even adjusting the environment if that is what is needed.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...