My son, Jonathan is a sweet, shy, easygoing little boy. He is very cautious and claps for himself when he does something he’s proud of. Jonathan was born prematurely and he’s always been small. As a parent, I followed the monthly developmental guides, wondering if he would develop at the same rate of other children his age. By 16 months and despite lots of encouragement, Jonathan was not yet walking. For months he stood and was able to balance himself, but could not take more than a step without falling. After discussing our concerns with our pediatrician, we contacted our local Baltimore County Infants and Toddlers program to schedule an evaluation.

A team of three - a service coordinator, physical therapist, and nurse - visited our home to conduct the evaluation. The team made me feel right at ease by sitting on the floor with Jonathan as they took turns talking to me about Jonathan’s abilities and interacted with him. They evaluated him in all of his areas of development, so while we addressed the gross motor needs as part of his physical development, I learned communication, social and emotional, cognitive, and self-care abilities as well. I enjoyed talking about my son and felt that the team members cared about him. They asked open-ended questions and assessed a range of skills kids to find out where Jonathan’s development fell rather than simply if he’s on par with children his age.

At the end of the assessment, the team shared Jonathan’s strengths, specific gross motor needs, and next steps. He has so many strengths, such as showing an understanding of relationships between objects, expressing affection and a sense of humor, and finger feeding. Each member of the assessment team provided next steps for Jonathan is his development, as well as some strategies for me to try. I learned that he has low muscle tone and increased joint mobility, and he would feel very unstable walking. This concerned me for his future, but the physical therapist assured me we will take everything one step at a time. 
 

The team then guided me through the development of an IFSP. We set an outcome for Jonathan that he would walk from my kitchen to the bedroom door back and forth three times without falling. Also, the physical therapist will work with him on a weekly basis to help him toward meeting this outcome. I remember that it was difficult for me to imagine him walking anytime soon, but that it would be amazing when it happened! After scheduling the physical therapist’s next visit, the team left.
 

At the end I felt like I learned so much about my child, and I had a plan to give him some support he needs. I felt great!
 

A few months later, Jonathan met his goal. He took his first steps to me during a session with the physical therapist. It was a special moment that we shared together, and I am grateful to her for how she’s helped our family. We continue to work with the Infant and Toddlers program as Jonathan builds stability and strength in his ankles and feet, and we look forward to our next evaluation.

Our son Omar is four years old.  Omar, his father, and my family and I have just moved here from another country.  When we took Omar to the pediatrician, she recommended that we contact our local school system preschool special education program to try to get help for Omar.  She diagnosed him with cerebral palsy, and was concerned about his development.  We knew that he had trouble controlling his body and was not like other children.  We did not know what to do. 

Omar is just a little boy.  He is affectionate and smart.  He likes to play with trains, cars, and trucks.  He loves books.  But Omar has trouble sitting up, and is not walking by himself or feeding himself yet.  He is not talking very much yet either.

After I called the preschool special education program, they invited me to bring Omar in so that they could assess him.  They explained the preschool special education program and what assessment and evaluation are, and talked about how they could work with Omar and me to learn more about him and our family.  They wanted to see if he would be eligible for preschool special education services, and to find out what his needs are.  They asked me lots of questions and made me feel very comfortable and glad that I had contacted them.

My mother (Omar’s grandmother) and I took Omar in for the assessment.  A team of people worked together with us to find out what Omar knows and can do, and what he needs help with.  They brought us into a room with toys and things for Omar to play with.  They took turns playing with him and talking to us.  At first he was shy but we stayed with him and then he felt better.  We were able to teach them about Omar and to learn a lot from them, which made us happy.  We really want Omar to do well in school.

After that day, they invited us to a meeting to talk about whether and how they could help Omar.  They gave us a written report about what they had learned about Omar’s strengths and needs, and they explained it to us.  They told us that he was eligible for preschool special education and related services. 
Now Omar goes to school on the bus every day and gets help with his walking, talking, taking care of himself, and learning.  We are excited to see all of the progress that he is making.