Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Intervention Services

The Virginia Department of Health sent us a letter in the mail the other day. The letter talked about Emma's diagnosis of CDH and they sent a fact sheet with the letter. They also sent us a brochure that was for "Families of Infants and Toddlers with Special Health Care Needs". In that brochure it talked about Early Intervention Services. We have known that CDH and the simple fact that Emma was on a ventilator for so long could cause her to have some developmental delays. Once we got the brochure we decided to go ahead and do a self-referral for Emma. This way if she does needs services, we can get them started right away. The nurse is coming to the house for her evaluation on Monday afternoon and we will see if she qualifies for services. If she does qualify then we will write up a plan for Emma with goals that are family focused and someone will also come into our home to offer services. This has been a bit of a surreal experience since I am usually on the other side of the process. Our goal is to always get our baby girl the services and help that she needs to live a healthy and productive life. We did find it interesting from the CDH fact sheet that approximately 25 babies are born with CDH in the state of Virginia - it is hard to believe Emma falls in this tiny group. Please pray that her evaluation goes well on Monday and that the nurse is able to determine the help and services that Emma needs if they are needed.