Update on Braxton - what a week!

Braxton had his IFSP appointment on Wen w/ his teacher from Eastgate, his p.t., his o.t., and his speech therapist. Plus his help me grow coordinator. All and all it went really good. As we know he is behind in grouse motor due to his cerebral palsy. Our goals didn't change too much. We still want him to be able to sit on his own and walk w/ assistance. Which more and more each day he is wanting to walk. He still doesn't care much for sitting. But we have found that using a slant table and letting him draw he is really trying to sit to do so. He loves to draw. His fine motor skills are at about a 14 mth old level. I have a feeling once we get his eyes all corrected he will take off in this area. He tries so hard to do things like stack blocks, or sort different shapes. But, just is not quit there. On the up side his Speech is at a 19-20 mth level and he is only 18 mths - 16 adjusted So, that is very exciting. He actually is not getting speech right now because he is doing so great. We did get some more good news too. Eastgate feels that because Braxton is a very social that he would motivate the other students and benefit from being in the classroom. So, at the latest he will start preschool in Jan. But they said that should a spot open at any time - they are recommended him. So, that is very exciting.

Today we had Braxtons appt with his new eye doctor - Dr Burnstine. A while back we were at Akron Children's and he approached me and told me he could correct Braxton eyes. I thought that was strange at first. But, the more I talked to his pediatrician and all his therapist. I come to find out that he is the Director of Pediatric Ophthalmologist at Akron Children's. So, we set up a consultation with him. Dr Burnstine dilated his eyes and looked them with all this different equipment. He told us that Braxton has Astigma in his left eye. Which Dr Magoon never told us. He said that will affect him on down the road and he will need glasses for it when he gets older. He said all in with being premature that his eyes were in really great shape. He said both eyes are good eyes. Basically meaning that patches are not necessary. He went on to say that Braxton eye condition, which he labeled, Estropia, would best be treated by another surgery. He is confident that with surgery this will be corrected and he will not need glasses for the time being. Instead however of correcting the inside of his eyes, he wants to correct the muscles in the outside of his eyes. We were very please w/ all the information he gave us and the plans he has for Braxton. We scheduled his surgery for Sept 10th, or sooner should they have a cancellation. He was pretty booked up. He has been in business for a very long time and we just love Akron Children's. So, we thought having him work on Braxton was in Braxtons best interest.

Well that about sums up our week of appointments.