Our BIG Star

We had our final parent feedback meeting at the STAR Center today.  Ms. Maura, Blaine's OT, went over Blaine's post-test results (the post test was done last week) and compared results from his pre-test (given last August) with us.

What she presented to us was remarkable.  He has improved in so many areas that we sort of smiled (and cried) our way through the whole meeting.  Maura was more than pleased with what she has seen and we were thrilled to see proof of his improvements (namely in the areas of writing, emotional regulation, and in the school setting.)  I remember sitting in the test room with him last August feeling so helpless and heartbroken for him.  He didn't know all of his letters and when he was asked to draw a picture of himself he needed 100% direction on how to draw a stick figure and what to include.  Last week during the same exercise he was able to draw himself (fingers and all!) with no assistance or prompting, and he asked if he could add grass, the sun, and clouds to the picture which speaks volumes about how he feels about the world around him, what he is observing and is able to communicate now.  Awesome.

There is probably a lot more that I could report but I think this summarizes it:

Ms. Maura writes:
Blaine, I had so much fun playing with you! Thank you for
teaching me so many awesome games!  One of my favorite
games that I will always remember playing with you is
hide & seek in the rainbow room. :) Maura

We went from many difficult sessions in a row (where both Blaine and I would be in tears) to fewer and fewer and then shifting to sessions where Blaine would ask me to leave the gym so he could play alone with Maura (awesome) and finally, in his last session he was playing with an older boy (who was also in therapy) and both therapists.  This was huge and a picture into where he is headed, socially.

The next steps are to find some summer camp options and extracurricular activities that Blaine can call his own, as well as preparing for Kindergarten.  Maura and the STAR Center will continue to be in our lives as much or as little as we want them to be.  They recommend a "booster" series of OT sessions after we take a break, perhaps before Kindergarten in the fall.  But we can call on them if we need anything, which makes moving forward easier.  Blaine received his award from Maura, gave high-fives and we were on our way.

Today was a good day!