Today Sophia celebrated her ninth birthday. We are in Xenia, Ohio this week getting her new service dog. She has made so much progress over the years but the journey has been nothing short of amazing.
At 2 years old, we noticed that something was wrong (see memoir entry 1). She was barely eating solid food yet, did not speak more than a few words, did not sleep more than three hours at a time, screamed in fear at almost everything and cried at any noise, wind or smell. With a diagnosis of severe sensory integration disorder, we began an intervention that required five to six hours a day of therapy. Every minute mattered as she approached her third birthday.
At three years old, Sophia was only 17 months developmentally, more than half her age delayed emotionally and cognitively. She was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified PDD-NOS. This is a fancy term under the umbrella of Autism at the time. She had abnormal EEGs with absence seizures and migraines. Her anxiety was so severe that we could rarely take her in public, especially with moving swings in the park, grocery carts or ceiling fans. With the introduction to a new doctor we found several medications that calmed her down and made things so much more manageable and life a little less frightening to her.
