Granted and Evaluation Tomorrow

We finally received our papers from Bituach Leumi (National Social Services). We are extremely happy with the outcome. We were granted everything that we asked for- in particular two items that I mentioned on the blog.

We were granted handicap parking. Tehilla is now able to walk, run and climb, but her limitations have become very apparent. She becomes out of breath very easily and can't walk too long. Right now, she is a little 24 lb monkey, but G-d willing, she will keep growing and we can't hold her or force her to stay in a stroller. This was something that was very important to us.

Tehilla was also granted a medical shadow for daycare! Tehilla had been rejected (still stings a bit) from a few private gans (nurseries). Now with her own medical shadow, I can put her in a municipality run day care system, and know that she will have one-on-one care. It's a huge relief.

Now we will begin the processes of making these things come into affect.

Tomorrow, Tehilla is going for a thorough multifaceted evaluation at Hitpatchut Hayeled (Child Development Services). We booked this appointment a long time ago. While Tehilla's speech has progressed and she is now saying phrases and 4-5 word sentences, she very clearly still has Apraxia of Speech. She still struggles to organize her sounds and words, is inconsistent with her words and completely avoids certain sounds all together.

Her evaluation will be assessed by a speech therapist, a physical therapist, a pediatrician and possibly other therapists simultaneously. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess Tehilla's difficulties and see what services can best help her. In specific, because of her speech problem, she should be entitled to Gan Safah (Language Preschool Group). It is a specialized extraordinary program to help with speech development at preschool.

Because Tehilla speaks no Hebrew, this evaluation might be bumpy but we have our fingers crossed that they will still be able to accurately evaluate her. I will update the blog tomorrow.