Help Me Grow follow-up

This morning was Emily's appointment with Help Me Grow to get her evaluation done. They did an ELAP which I "think" stands for Early Learning Accomplishment Profile. Although Emily is 10 mos. old now, from the information they gathered earlier this week, they have said her "adjusted age" is 7 mos. This takes into account that she was born approximately 10 weeks premature and that she spent the first 8 months of her life in an orphanage/babyhouse. So, with this in mind, she should be developmentally where a 7 month old should be.

The evaluation was actually pretty fun for Emily. The girls at the agency played with her and worked with an assortment of toys to estimate how far along she was. They saw her roll over, prop herself up with one hand, pick up some blocks, turn her head for a rattle, pull a toy out of a mat, resist letting go of a toy, pull a blanket off of a toy to get to it, and much more. They also asked us some questions about things we had observed as far as putting words together, mimicking, attachment, anxiety, etc. From their 30 minutes of play (and us chatting) they then scored her results to get an idea of where she stands. I will know more next week when I get the "official" report but for now I think this is what they said.

Physical Development - 6 months (They are encouraging physical therapy to help her catch up.)
Cognitive Development - 12 months (wow!)
Language Development - 7 months
Social Development - 9 months

Again, I will know more about what each of these mean and if I remembered them correctly toward the end of next week.

A little more about Help Me Grow -- It is an agency that helps children from infant to age 3 and they service all families regardless of income level. They provide free evaluations during that time and help families connect to services and other agencies that will assist with their children's development. You can learn more about Marion County's Help Me Grow program at: http://www.marionhealthdept.com/mapp.htm

There is also very detailed information about Help Me Grow and a ton of resources available through Ohio's Department of Health at: http://www.ohiohelpmegrow.org/parents/parents.aspx

We've heard nothing but good things about Help Me Grow!