Today I took Ella to an evaluation at the Callier Center at UT Dallas. We wanted her to be looked at for communication devices. A communication device doesn't mean that we don't expect her to speak, but until she makes a huge amount of improvement verbally, we need to be able to teach her HOW to communicate with us. She did REALLY well. I was actually encouraged and surprised by what the doctor had to say. Ella did wonderful! She understood cause and effect and how the tools and toys worked. It's too much to explain here, but I'll attach some pictures and see if it makes more sense.
In the first picture I'm pointing at a foam tab that the doctor put in the corner of each page of a board book...it creates space between the pages so that Ella can help turn the pages easier.
Ella had to push the purple button to make the duck quack and waddle...she even did it with her foot when the doctor moved it out of her reach. When she unplugged the duck Ella looked back and forth wondering why it wasn't working anymore.
This blue box would light up one box at a time. Ella would follow the lights and when they would get to the end it would jump down a level...she had about a 3-5 second delay, but she would follow them...I was impressed, and so was the doctor.
She picked the bubbles twice...so the doctor blew them for her...it was fun to watch her try and track them as they flew by and popped.
So, I'll update you when we get the actual report. For now we are going to try and duplicate some of the things that the doctor did today.
I will pray for the day that I can sit and have a conversation with my daughter. To hear her heart in her words, what a beautiful day.
"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4