In January I began the process of trying to get Tabitha evaluated for State Assistance through the Early Childhood Intervention Program. Mick and I are concerned about some of her gross motor abilities and about the clicking and popping we hear/feel in her joints. So first we had to have her screened. Once she "passed" the initial screening - i.e. there was a possibility that she would qualify for services, we were able to have her evaluated in our home by a Physical Therapist, an Occupational Therapist, a Speech Therapist and a Developmental Therapist. In order to qualify for therapy - she must be 30% deficient in at least 2 areas. Each of the Therapists came to our home and evaluated her (completely covered by the State of IL) it was a wonderful experience - I learned alot about Tabitha and ways that I could help her. We also made an appointment to see a Pediatric Orthopedic to check her hips, knees and other joints. The Orthopod said that Tabitha just has really loose ligaments and that as long as she was not in pain - that treatment was not necessary.

Take a close look at her legs - can you say "FLEXIBLE"?
Upon talking to the Physical Therapist - they said this looseness could be genetic or it could just be a lack of muscle tightness. We will work on tone and muscle development in physical therapy. By the end of this process, Tabitha qualified for weekly Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy appointments. The Speech Therapist suggested a reevaluation in 3 months - due to the newness of exposure to an entirely different language. We also hope to have a nutritional evaluation done sometime in April. I am having trouble getting her above 16lbs - due to recurrent ear infections - due to "fleminess" that keeps coming from dairy based products. We have switched Tabitha to Rice Milk - which is enriched but does not really have the fat and calories that dairy based products do. This has helped. Unfortunately, even soy products seem to cause her to problems. Milk allergy??
* I learned that it was evident that she probably had no "tummy time" - and missing that really affects so much in terms of core body strength, back & shoulder strength, neck strength, eye muscles, arm muscles, abdominal muscles - who would of thought? In China, the children are often held and carried around - so I believe culture played a part in Tabitha's lack of prone or "tummy time".
* This then explains why her shoulders are often rounded forward and her head often tilts forward. The O.T. taught me ways to play with Tabitha that will strengthen her neck, shoulders and back - in fact, her forward "head tilt" is almost gone now.
* This also then affects crawling - which she now does, but in an "atypical" way. It is important that even if she doesn't crawl perfectly that we put her through the actions of crawling for developmental purposes - much like "tummy time" - crawling also affects many things.
* The Physical Therapist noticed some right sided weakness and taught me ways to encourage her to strengthen that side and also to work with Tabitha on activities that cross her midline.
** It is amazing to think that in China - this child could only sit - she couldn't move her legs while sitting - she had to stay in a tri-sit position to stay balanced - she couldn't hold her head up when she was on her tummy, couldn't roll - crawl or get up from her back. Now... she is rolling, crawling, twisting in a sitting position, scooting, pulling up and side-step walking along holding onto the table. Simply amazing!
** Finally, I also learned that Tabitha is cognitively age appropriate - and several of the therapists said that her attention span was incredible - she is a smart little cookie and is just a little bit trapped or held back by her body. They all said that she probably won't be in therapy long - b/c she just makes amazing strides daily. We are so proud of her progress. Go Tabitha!