Yesterday was Little Miss Minion’s third NICU clinic. This is the big appointment where she is evaluated by physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, a neonatologist, and a NICU nurse. We don’t have her official write up yet, but I have the rough numbers. She did really well!
For those who are unfamiliar, her age is measured by two numbers. One is her chronological age-this is how old she is based on her birthday. The other is her adjusted age-this is how old she is based on her due date. So, by her birthday, she is 22 months old. By her adjusted age, she is only 19 months old. This doesn’t really seem like much, but in terms of early development, it is a big deal.
Her speech was scored at eighteen months, which is a HUGE improvement. This score technically means that she is no longer considered delayed in speech, which is amazing since she’s only had about a month of speech therapy. They gave us some tips on how to encourage her to talk, but said that she is so close to really talking.
Her cognition was scored right at her chronological age, which is also fantastic. This means that she is scoring three months ahead of her adjusted age, which means that she is pretty much caught up for now in that area. With her early birth, the hydrocephalus, and the brain damage she incurred as a result of either the meningitis or the initial pressures of the hydro, this is really a best case scenario. The doctor told me he had to double check her chart to make sure she was the right kid.
She’s pretty much on track with her adjusted ago with regard to her fine and gross motor skills. They looked at how she walks, how she holds things, whether she can stack blocks, how she picks things up.
All in all, I think her average score was twenty or twenty one months, which is great, great news. I’ll post more details once we get the official results in a few weeks. But for now, yay for LMM!
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