Levi Development Update: April 2015

At Levi's 15 month check-up, our pediatrician referred us to a speech and physical therapist and agreed to let us see how therapy alone would work before we pursued other tests/doctors. However, after 3 months of therapy, we reconvened in March for Levi's 18 month appointment and he was even further behind. Because of this, Dr. S (who has been amazing and has treated Levi and us with so much grace and compassion), had what I like to call "the hard conversation."  And out of that hard conversation, came our "game plan" for the next couple of months as we strive to do everything we can to give Levi the best chance in all things.

Isn't he the cutest?

Levi has been currently diagnosed with PDD, or Pervasive Developmental Disorder. I say currently, because this diagnoses could change as we run more tests, and as Levi gets older. However, according to his symptoms and behaviors now, it is the diagnoses that fits.

Levi saw an audiologist a few weeks ago and passed his second hearing test, so we can officially rule out hearing loss or deafness, praise the Lord! We have an upcoming appointment with a Developmental Pediatric Specialist in Atlanta in June. We have been told to allot 4-5 hours for our initial appointment with Dr. Rubin (I choked on my coffee when the nurse told me that nugget of information- "you know he's 18 months right?") Although I am already struggling with anxiety because of the length of that appointment, I think that we are going to be able to learn so much from it about what is going on with Levi. So as strange as it is to say, I am excited for that appointment!

Fun at the park!

We are still annoyingly patiently trying to get an appointment with a Pediatric Neurologist. Because insurance is SO MESSED UP finicky right now, the only Pediatric Neurologist that will accept our insurance is in Augusta, Georgia, and they do not have an open appointment until mid August for out of area patients. However, because we don't want to wait that long and because Augusta is about a 4.5 hour drive from Columbus, we are currently in the process of applying for a "prior approval" with our insurance that would enable us to go to a doctor closer to town. We have a pediatric neurologist in town who has an appointment ready for us, so please pray that insurance will allow us to go to him!

While we wait for upcoming appointments and insurance approvals, we have been directed towards an organization called Easter Seals ( http://www.easterseals.com/who-we-are/history/ ). I had a tour/interview a few weeks ago and we have decided to start Levi there full time in August. He will be a part of their child development center and will also be doing his therapy there full time as well.  He will "checked-out" of class several times a week for one-on-one therapy and he will also have daily therapy goals that his teacher will work on with him through out the day. We have heard such high praise of Easter Seals' programs and therapists and we are very hopeful and excited to see how Levi progresses while he is there.

As far as Levi's development, skills and behavior, he is officially walking about 85% of the time!! He will still crawl some, but it is normally when he is playing with his ball or his Frisbee (I swear I have a child and not a dog). For the most part, his attitude and temperament have improved drastically since he has begun walking. He still gets very frustrated when we don't understand what he wants (which is most of the time) but who can blame him? All in all, he is a joyful, sweet, energetic little boy and he has been a champ through all of this!

Levi has regressed in almost all of the speech he had developed. A while back, I had blogged about him saying "dog" and "dada", but that has almost completely stopped now. The only communication that he has held onto is waving bye-bye and he is so proud of himself (as are we) every time he waves. It is absolutely precious! He also continues to sign "please" with our hands (not his own) for anything he wants. We do not even have to prompt him anymore, which is a big step!

Happy as a clam

We aren't really sure why he is regressing, but we are hopeful that his upcoming Neurology appointment and Pediatric Development appointment in Atlanta will really shine a light on whats going on and what we can do to help. We greatly appreciate all of those who are praying and loving on us and Levi! And we are so incredibly thankful for the gift that is Levi himself, we truly wouldn't change a thing!