Alex was born 4 weeks premature and had a rough beginning.  He was not breathing at birth, and needed a lot of help to get started.  He was in the NICU for 3 days to rule out infection.  After all of that, he appeared to be developing normally until he reached 15 weeks.  The pediatrician noticed he had nystagmus (involuntary movements of the eyes) and low muscle tone.  He referred Alex and his family to an ophthalmologist as well as Early Intervention.  After Alex’s evaluation, he qualified for Vision and Physical Therapy services.

“I work in the early childhood field so my expectations were extremely high for my son’s therapists.  His therapists consistently exceeded those expectations,” said his mother. Alex’s therapists worked with his family to develop stretches and vision activities to expand his abilities.  They showed his daycare caregivers techniques to use with him throughout the day while still maintaining communication with his mother so she could work with him at home.

When he began to eat solid foods, Alex had trouble managing them. He also had some sensory processing difficulties, so Occupational Therapy was added to his services.  The OT helped develop ways to keep him regulated during various activities so that he was not as upset.  He began eating well and has continued to develop his skills in feeding himself and tolerating new foods.  His TEIS OT worked with Alex’s family to obtain equipment to assist with his sensory needs.  When his original therapist went on maternity leave, a new OT stepped in. Alex’s mother says, “I was extremely apprehensive about who I would get as a substitute.  However, my fears were unfounded because the new OT again showed what amazing therapists TEIS employs.”

Around age 20 months, Alex began displaying a lot of aggressive behaviors. A Developmental Therapist was added to help find ways to manage social interactions.  “Again we experienced the quality of TEIS’s therapists and were grateful that we were able to decrease the behaviors as a team. The therapists have all made it a point to empower us as parents to help our child and given us the tools to move on past the third birthday.  Thanks to the care and expertise of my child’s therapists, he no longer requires services and I feel confident in monitoring his progress,” Alex’s mother says.