after eye surgery

About this time I became pregnant with Dylan. Dylan is probably the single best thing we could have given Melyssa. She loves her brother tremendously and has from the start. She used to rub his head every night to fall asleep, and they are very much best friends. THe more frustrated I got with our pediatricians the more I looked for other resources. Just before Dylan was born I took Melyssa to have her evaluated through the Los Angeles Regional Center. Melyssa was about 16 months at her first evaluation. It was determined that Melyssa had a Global Delay, Tactile Defensiveness, Sensory Integration issues, low muscle tone, but there was no true diagnosis. Autism was and continues to be the hot disability. All doctors are using it as a catch-all. Melyssa did not fall into this diagnosis, though we heard often that she 'presents similar characteristics and symptoms' as an autist. Once Dylan was born, we started on an amazing schedule of therapy, special Mommy-and-Me classes, and seeing Specialists. We had Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Floor Time once a week. We had a Mommy-and-Me class for kids with 'special needs' twice a week. We saw a Pediatric Neurologist once every two months. We continued to see the Optomotrist as well.

Through all of this we saw very slow, but steady progress.