The massive evaluation

On Thursday, Gabriel and I set off for the large outpatient center and short distance up I-95 and had the day-long developmental evaluation.
We saw: Audiology, a social worker, a pediatrician, another social worker, psychology, speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy.
We had a late lunch, a mini nap in the lobby and then came back for conference.
It was actually a very typical behavior day for Gabriel which was good for everyone to see. Physical therapist has actually met and worked with Jude and is of the opinion that I, by some awkward twist of fate, adopted exactly the same child twice. Some days I completely agree. Gabriel certainly tried everything on the therapist that Jude already unsuccessfully attempted in April.
But, to no ones surprise, Gabriel has the upper hand on Jude in some areas. She certainly is acquiring a good amount of skills in less than half the time I saw with Jude.
At the end of the day, Gabriel is functioning at about the level of a 22-month old child. Gabriel has an overriding mental health diagnosis now. This was actually particularly helpful to get feedback that our at-home tactics are spot on. It was also nice to hear that she, despite everything else going on, appears to have a firm attachment to me. I have actually felt that the attachment process has gone smoother with Gabriel, but it was difficult to know for certain with everything else going on.
I was extremely impressed by the team we saw. So much so, that they will see Jude to fill in gaps from her piecemeal State Early Intervention Services evaluations.
Gabriel will get referrals to both speech and OT, like Jude. PT may come eventually, but right now they would like to see her after we have had the summer to work with her at home. Mental illness and toddlers is more difficult. We will have access to the team that we saw on an ongoing basis to bounce ideas and problems off of as we go along.
And they are all right about the microcephaly. Bought her a bike helmet because it was on clearance at WalMart and she is in infant size with the back strap one click above as tight as it will go. I also bought a scale for home as she is a drastically different weight on everyone’s scale. It’s driving me nuts.