Today my throat - and body - just needed a nice tall cup of coffee. Before the kids were up I sipped my coffee and thought about how big today was.
It's funny, I'm sure a lot of parents of typically developing children don't even know what the Infant and Toddler Connection even is. And for me, Hartley "graduating" from it is the first graduation she'll ever have.
The Infant Toddler Connection is an organization through the county that provides aide (i.e. Speech/occupational/physical therapy) at low or no cost to families with children in need. I learned of this organization back in February when both of my children were referred to it by their pediatrician.
Patrick was assessed, and because of some tricky rounding, he qualified. We were given the option for him to receive physical therapy services; however, we were told that his gross motor skills were delayed purely due to his very large size (at this time he was literally 100th percentile). We were told he would still develop all of his gross motor skills (so no need to worry) but it was going to take him longer because he had an extraordinary amount of weight to support unlike his little baby peers. We decided to go for it because we were already doing it with Hartley so why not, right?
Hartley presented more worrisome delays than Patrick. I believe it was something like more than 20 percent (maybe 25?) delays in 6 areas of her development. She was eligible for services, and it was much more of a no brainer. At that time, she was freshly 2, and something encouraging we heard a lot was that at that point, there's a very wide spectrum of what is "normal".
They wrote up an assessment of where she was. Then they wrote up a plan for her with a list of goals, some short term, some more long term. In all honestly, I'm not sure how many goals she's met. I know she's drastically improved on responding to her name. It certainly isn't 100 percent, but back in February it was pretty damn close to zero percent. She is improving with making choices. She has greatly improved in answering yes or no questions. None of this is 100 percent of the time but it's much, much better than it was. However, as she develops her peers do too so we're not exactly sure where she falls now.
That's where tomorrow comes into play. Some experts - a speech therapist and a psychologist - will assess her and tell us their thoughts. This will also determine if she is eligible to receive special Ed services.
The Infant Toddler Connection is an absolutely incredible organization; I can't say enough good things. It's a group of people who have found their lives' calling by working with these munchkins who just need some extra help. They are so incredibly sensitive, supportive, and professional. And as a mother whose children have needed some extra help, I'm so grateful for these people and this service. And Go, Fairfax County, for what you do!
Now at 36 months/3 years old, if children still are in need of extra help, they transition from ITC to Fairfax County Public Schools. FCPS is responsible for ensuring these preschoolers get what they need before they are old enough for kindergarten. Pretty cool, right?
Well, that's where we are tomorrow: Hartley is being assessed to determine her eligibility to attend this preschool. She basically qualifies if she shows to have 25% or greater deficency in 2 or more areas of development. Now, as her mom, I'm not 100 percent certain she'll qualify, mainly because I'm so proud of the huge strides that have been made in 6 months. But I am also aware that my child is developing differently than her typically developing peers.
However, I digress. I gave you all of that back ground for a reason, I promise! It's really to explain what ITC is because today Hartley graduates from ITC. I'm surprised she's graduating honestly. But I think our little team is fairly confident that Hartley will be transitioning over to FCPS. She was invited to Pathways to prepare for this transition.
So today my baby graduated ITC, and while many parents probably see that on Facebook and say "WTF are people celebrating now?" Because I realize that some people think we, as a society, over celebrate with things like participation trophies and all that jazz. BUT the group of kids we celebrated today do deserve this "extra" celebration. They are children and parents working really hard before school even starts. And quite frankly, these are children that can only gain from an extra day of celebrating them; they truly deserve the confidence boost!!
My daughter is 2.5 years old, and I'm very proud of the fact that she already has two certificates with her name on them. We survived ballet, and she truly has rocked ITC!
The ceremony was held at a park in Fairfax. It was hot and sweaty but very fun. They really tailored the event to the little graduates. Hartley loved playing at the park and munching on goldfish and mini cupcakes. She was shy about getting her certificate but Brian carried his little princess up to get it and there were no tears. Unless you count a couple proud mom tears.
Congrats, Hartley Glenn! You are so special, quirky, smart, funny & beautiful. I know this will be the first of many graduation ceremonies - and we will be cheering for you at every single one!
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