{31 for 21} Showing Off

Over the past 19 months I've had my ups and downs with therapy providers. I feel very fortunate that we have a good group of providers right now. That wasn't always the case, and I've had a few horrible experiences to get to this point.

Last December was our first visit to the Hope Haven clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. We had a wonderful experience there last year and I was eager to go back and learn more this year.

We had the opportunity to spend an hour each with a Physical, speech and occupational therapist. They each evaluated Kennedy, provided feedback about her progress since last year and gave us some advice on what we can work on over the course of the next year. There was also an hour and a half educational session in which we discussed other more specific activities and ways to promote learning, future choices and considerations regarding schooling, and our upcoming move to North Carolina.

We all know that Kennedy doesn't always show off or perform her skills for the right people. I came armed with videos to show as evidence that she's doing the things I'm indicating, and in hopes that they could at least provide some feedback, based on the videos. Fortunately, there was no need for them. Kennedy took the opportunity to show off all of her skills to each of the therapists, despite being very tired halfway through the morning. By the time we reached PT, she was exhausted and over it. She still managed to show off her walking skills before she declared the performance over and demanded an end to the day. It was a long day for her, but she was a rock star as always. We left with some new ideas and I felt a lot more confident with my efforts. I look forward to receiving their full report in a few weeks.

31 for 21 has brought me back to the blogging world, and I'm determined to start blogging about the different activities that I'm working on with Kennedy.

After our exciting morning at Hope Haven hit the road for the remainder of our road trip. Apparently Kennedy had a talk with Caleb about how road trips are supposed to go, because they both did excellent. Be on the lookout for a lot of cuteness. We have plans for fake grass, time with family, pumpkin patches, Down syndrome celebrations, parks and play dates!