Just joined and have lots of questions

March 23, 2011

Whew, I am so glad to have found this group. I am mom to 4 amazing kiddos, 16,

14, 12, and last May we adopted our son from China. He is now 38 months old.

We knew he had many delays and had received therapy services while in his foster

home. The PT in China had commented she thought he had CP. He has been with us

now for 10 months and has simply blossomed in so many ways. So here is where we

are now. He has very few words along with a few sound approximations. However,

he is quite vocal with the sounds he does have and VERY animated with his facial

expressions. (I think that means we can rule out oral apraxia??) He has poor

trunk control and very poor balance and therefore isn't walking unsupported. He

also has poor fine motor control. This last week I read 'Latetalkers' and felt

like I discovered the key to explain everything we are seeing. We have yet to

meet with a MD or therapist that seems to be able to " put it all together " . We

have met with a ped neuro a couple times. He ordered an MRI and it showed areas

of damage most likely from oxygen deprivation around birth. Part of what was

involved was part of the motor cortex. He flippantly said that the MRI

explained all of Liam's defecits and called it CP. That has so not sat well

with me because Liam does not look at all like a child with CP. He does have a

little increased tone in his left ankle. To be honest, the ped neuro never

really even asked us about Liam's speech. That was in January and I feel like I

was just starting to make sense of everything. It is like the more I learn, the

more questions I have. So I guess here are my questions: 1) if there are areas

of damage in the brain involving the motor planning parts, is that the same as

apraxia or is it called somethinig else? 2) he is receiving ST 4x/week x 15

minutes each (total of 1 hr). Based on the matrix in the book he should be

receiving 90+ minutes/week. His speech therapist agrees that he has a motor

planning problem but how can I gauge (tactfully yet adamantly) whether she has

the skills to treat him? and 3) he is taking omega 3 DHA (Nordic Naturals). It

sounds like NV has been proving to provide significantly greater benefit than

Omega 3 alone-is that right? I am thankful to have found a group with other

parents who are experiencing what we are. Thank you in advance to anyone who

can help.

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