The First Year
The first year Jasmine was home was very busy.I had set aside some money so I took a Family Leave from work so I could take care of Jasmine. I took advantage of a program called Early Intervention, which offers therapies for children with developmental disabilities and delays from newborn to three years old. She was evaluated and it was determined that she would have physical therapy in our home two days a week and a special education teacher once a week. We also signed her up with The Commission for the Blind because she has a condition called cortical blindness or cortical visual impairment. Her condition was caused by lack of oxygen to the brain, which resulted in an injury to her visual cortex, which is a section of the cerebral cortex responsible for vision.In other words, her brain couldn't interpret what her eyes were seeing.They describe it as trying to look through a piece of swiss cheese. She had and still has a hard time focusing on an object for a long period of time. She had very poor depth perception, which made it impossible to reach for an object. Jasmine's visual therapist turned out to be the daughter of one of my coworkers and was an amazing vision therapist. She would show Jasmine shiny objects, lights, balls, toys, and she slowly started tracking them with her eyes. This is a very slow process, but is an amazing thing to see the progress that is being made. Jasmine's physical therapist came twice a week and worked on stretching and holding her head up. The teacher was the one who really surprised me. She would play a game with Jasmine on the floor. Jasmine would be on her back, kicking her feet. The teacher would grab her legs and say stop. Then she would ask Jasmine if she wanted more. If Jasmine smiled or made any kind of sound, she would do it again. I have to say that I thought it was ridiculous. She wasn't saying more, it didn't even look like she understood what she was doing. Every week she came, she would do it again, playing different games. Well, I can only say that I guess that's why she had a degree and I didn't. Jasmine went from smiling to making a noise to making an M sound and now says MORE! None of this happens overnight, it happens over years, but nevertheless it does happen!That first year our house had a revolving door. There was always a therapist, teacher, or social worker there on any given day. On our off time we spent alot of time in the pool, and going for long walks in the neighborhood, the boardwalk, and taking a trip to Mom Mom and Pop Pop's house.
The first year Jasmine was home was very busy.I had set aside some money so I took a Family Leave from work so I could take care of Jasmine. I took advantage of a program called Early Intervention, which offers therapies for children with developmental disabilities and delays from newborn to three years old. She was evaluated and it was determined that she would have physical therapy in our home two days a week and a special education teacher once a week. We also signed her up with The Commission for the Blind because she has a condition called cortical blindness or cortical visual impairment. Her condition was caused by lack of oxygen to the brain, which resulted in an injury to her visual cortex, which is a section of the cerebral cortex responsible for vision.In other words, her brain couldn't interpret what her eyes were seeing.They describe it as trying to look through a piece of swiss cheese. She had and still has a hard time focusing on an object for a long period of time. She had very poor depth perception, which made it impossible to reach for an object. Jasmine's visual therapist turned out to be the daughter of one of my coworkers and was an amazing vision therapist. She would show Jasmine shiny objects, lights, balls, toys, and she slowly started tracking them with her eyes. This is a very slow process, but is an amazing thing to see the progress that is being made. Jasmine's physical therapist came twice a week and worked on stretching and holding her head up. The teacher was the one who really surprised me. She would play a game with Jasmine on the floor. Jasmine would be on her back, kicking her feet. The teacher would grab her legs and say stop. Then she would ask Jasmine if she wanted more. If Jasmine smiled or made any kind of sound, she would do it again. I have to say that I thought it was ridiculous. She wasn't saying more, it didn't even look like she understood what she was doing. Every week she came, she would do it again, playing different games. Well, I can only say that I guess that's why she had a degree and I didn't. Jasmine went from smiling to making a noise to making an M sound and now says MORE! None of this happens overnight, it happens over years, but nevertheless it does happen!That first year our house had a revolving door. There was always a therapist, teacher, or social worker there on any given day. On our off time we spent alot of time in the pool, and going for long walks in the neighborhood, the boardwalk, and taking a trip to Mom Mom and Pop Pop's house.
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