Brooke's Evaluation & Anniversary

Evaluation

I had heard that kids adopted around a year old actually have a harder time learning English because they had just started the foundation of learning a language (Russian), then you throw in the second language (English) and it is hard for them to understand it is a different language - not just different words of the first language. So we were giving her time to "forget" Russian and learn English.

But at 21 months old, she really only said a handful of words (mama, dada, hi, bye, poo, ju, all done, wa-wa, opin, ba, may-may). But she only uses maybe 7. The rest are only said when asked to repeat after us; she wouldn't proactively use them. She relies on pointing, grunting and crying to get her point across. However, she clearly understands us since she can follow simple command (come here, throw that away, go upstairs, clean up, etc.).

Late last month I called the Orange County Regional Center to schedule an appointment to get Brooke evaluated, mainly for speech. The OC Regional Center is the same place that we went through for Jack's early intervention - they evaluate and provide necessary therapy for kids up to 3 years old.

In the beginning of October, the service coordinator came to the house and spent about 45 minutes with us and Brooke. She asked us a lot of "can she do this" type questions. Questions such as, does she play peek-a-boo, does she eat with a spoon and fork, does she put stuff in her mouth, can she drink from an open glass, does she help to dress herself, does she follow direction, does she draw, does she know body parts, does she play with other kids, does she climb, can she stack blocks, can she go up the stairs, etc.

She then wrote up an evaluation that determined what areas Brooke is delayed in and if she qualifies for care. For speech, a child that is under 2 years old, has to be 33% delayed (due to budget cuts, if a child is over 2 years old, s/he has to be 50% delayed to qualify for therapy). Preliminary results show she is delayed but now we wait for a speech therapist to come out to really assess her.


Anniversary
It really is amazing what a year does. A year ago, Brooke was walked into a room and time stood still. It was a moment I'll never forget; I saw her and had that feeling of just knowing she was my daughter and this was it. As she came closer to me, it was as if she was in slow motion and I was savoring every detail. She was handed to me and she didn't cry, which a year later and knowing her, is amazing in itself. In the past 12 months, her little personality is shining through more and more. And today, one day from when we first met her, she gave us her first closed-mouth kiss -- over and over and over again. So cute!! Although she is more of a high-maintenance child, she completes our family and we couldn't imagine life without her.