E - C - Who?!

I have had several friends and family ask me what ECI is, since I have made references to them on our blog. People have wondered what it is, what they do, and if their child needs to be in ECI as well.

ECI is Early Childhood Intervention.

They came out because, at 16 months of age, the boys still aren't really walking. Jacob took a few steps almost a month ago now, but after our HUGE family illness, hasn't wanted to walk since (until Tuesday of this week - an update to come soon). Caleb is still showing zero interest.

The boys' doctor recommended at their 15 month Well Child Appointment that we get the ball rolling with ECI since it can oftentimes take over a month (with them being a state funded program) for them to come out to evaluate, and then even longer to come out to help them. We figured that if the boys started walking before they came out - GREAT - but if not, that would put them around 18 months and still not walking, and then we would be a little alarmed.

Well, ECI evidently wasn't very behind right now, so they have already been out three times! The first time was to do an evaluation to see if Jacob and Caleb even qualified, the second was to get a care plan together, and then this past time was to being working with the boys.

ECI evaluates Motor Development, Speech, Cognitive Awareness, Self-Help, and Social Development. While, thankfully, they cannot find anything WRONG with the boys that would prevent them from walking, they do indeed have a Motor Delay. As far as motor skills go, Caleb was on an 11 month level while Jacob was 12 months. Also, thankfully, the guys are blossoming in every other aspect - especially Caleb's social development!

The evaluation was pretty easy. It was mostly Q&A with Jon and I, while three ladies observed the boys playing. They asked us over an hour worth of questions about things that they are/aren't doing and then tallied it all up. Painless enough!

Since there was/is nothing really WRONG with their lazy butts ;-), we do not need to see a Physical Therapist, however there are Child Development Specialists that can come out and work with our guys on different techniques to get them up and moving. For example, we have rearranged our house to make it more "walking friendly," per se. (ie: we moved the coffee table further away from the couch and moved toys within two or three "baby steps" from each other so that they boys are more inclined to take the short steps to get to it rather than get down and crawl all the way over to the toy that they want - does that make sense?) Also we have more little games to get them to walk - like carrying the fly swatter (which was actually my Gran's idea!). I'll have to blog about that later when I give an update on them!

Another cool thing about ECI is that they always come out to the home for not only the evaluation, but also all "treatment." They feel that the child does better in his or her own environment, and will learn and thrive better this way. I totally agree. PLUS, it is much easier to keep them happy at their house and their own toys.

So many people have asked me if their child also needs to be in ECI. The evaluation was FREE (they said that they come to the home of any parent who has a concern and then let them know if the child qualifies), so if you are at all concerned about anything, definitely give them a call. Doesn't hurt! Like I mentioned, they help with more than just Motor Delay. They did ask me a few preliminary questions over the phone, so they might listen to your concerns and tell you that, in their opinion, your child is just fine. That might be enough to set your mind at ease a little. Or, if there is a question about it, they can come out to see what the specialist thinks.

The number is 1-800-628-5115. They will then ask for your zip code, if I remember correctly, and give you one more number to call to set the evaluation up.

We were also initially concerned about the cost of having a specialist come out and see two boys twice a month. I mean, if Jacob and Caleb NEED it, we would do whatever it takes, but it might a little be tough for us to fork out $500 + per month PER CHILD! So, we just talked to them about the cost before they even began the treatment plan...

They DO charge your insurance company, however if you do not have insurance or if insurance does not cover their treatment regimen, the cost is then based on sliding scale. And when we talked to them about that, we learned that we will only be paying $20 per month per family (ie: both boys - and also Gabe too, should he need ECI down the road) if insurance does not cover. Definitely do-able!

ECI is for children from birth to three years of age. After this, if the boys still need assistance (which we do not anticipate), we will look into private options or the public school system - whatever is the best fit for them.

Anyhoo - that's ECI in a nut shell. We have been very pleased with them, thus far.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get an actual UPDATE on the Goobers! ;-)