A first for our family and Ben's language development

Ben has graduated from physical therapy.  This might sound like a small thing or even an expected thing.  For most kids, they start a therapy, catch up, and then no longer need the therapy.  That has not been our experience, however.  Both boys started Early Intervention, only to transfer to the school district at age 3 (unlike many friends whose children caught up through early intervention).  Liam has done OT and ST for yeaars and while he no longer keeps falling behind, he still needs those services.

Ben started PT for toe walking and with a limited range of motion in his ankles which made walking with flat feet difficult.  Early Intervention had worked on this with him since November 2010, and the toes walking was getting worse, not better.  Ben's PT set a goal of him having a 10-15 degree rangle of motion in both ankles, and his range of motion is 19 degrees in one and 21 degrees in the other!!!!!!! 

I was worried that Ben would ended up with casts to prevent the toe walking, but we just avoided that.  As a HUGE aside, I am down one appointment to run the boys too.

See Ben's hands there?  That is the startle reflex babies have to swinging or unexpected motion. Ben STILL does this.

Language wise, Ben is doing amazing.  Three HUGE leaps happened in the last couple weeks.  First, Ben has added pronouns, and has started to say "I do [blank]" rather than "Ben jump" or some other simple phrase spoken in the 3rd person.  Second, Ben has started speaking in sentences FINALLY. Previously, he spoke mostly in 2 to 3 word phrases but we are starting to hear sentences.  He doesn't have much fluency and I find him very hard to understand, but the sentences give me more context.  Third, he can answer questions.  Liam still has trouble with questions.  Ben might not need speech therapy when we arrive in Alabama.

OT wise, Ben still has needs.  He can now remove socks and a jacket, but cannot remove any other clothing.  He still cannot put any clothing on.  Sensory wise, he tends to be quite defensive and struggles with sensory integration a lot.