Early Start

The audiologist had mentioned that Peter was eligible for Early Start help and that someone would come to our house. "Even out in the mountains?" I asked. It's not like we live that far out- just 20 min to towns on each side of us, but it sometimes seems like a ways to drive, especially for free services! Sure enough, there was a message on our answering machine wen we got back from NC. A woman trained as a speech therapist, among other things, wanted to make an appointment to come meet us and "evaluate" Peter for service eligibility. I am happy that the hospital and audiologist took care of sending our name- so much else on my plate that it was nice to just get the call and have Early Start be so proactive. I met our Early Start person a few days after we got back- as soon as I could really. I wanted to get as much help as possible! The woman assigned to us, TG, is very nice. I feel very lucky in that I feel she will be a good ally for the three years we are to receive Early Start services. That first day we just chatted, she met Peter, and then asked some questions to fill out a form establishing eligibility. In Peter's c ase it was pretty clear cut- he can't hear anything below 90 dB. She said the next step was "enrollment", which we would do the next time we met, and come up with objectives for her services for the IFSP (individual family service plan). We took care of enrollment the following week, and TG also started giving me all kinds of resources. We are borrowing signing videos for me and the kids to learn sign (and my husband if he gets some time), an ASL dictionary, and piles of information from organizations touting every kind of communication option there is! Even though our Early Start program takes a summer break and it was starting soon, we were able to schedule two additional sessions before the break, where we looked at language opportunities, and learned to sign a couple simple stories. All this before Peter was even 3 months, and the goals are to just to make sure the kids are diagnosed by 3 months! (3-3-6 goals mean that they hope to screen all kids within 3 weeks of birth, diagnose any losses by 3 months, and have intervention in place by 6 months)