Hello there

Cameron had the usual blood tests at birth and every since he has had thyroid blood tests 5 times now even though it is still normal, the levels rose once so they keep check.

He had a chest x-ray, ECG and Echocardiogram.

His normal pead check ups and he has had 2 hearing tests so far (passed them both)

The therpys are:
Physiotherpy since 3 months
Portage since 6 months
and we are awaiting speech and language therpy too

Cameron is due to start an oppotunity playgroup in September which is fantastic. They have a mixture of special needs kiddies and there siblings so my older boy Callum is starting at the same time until he starts nursery in september 2006.

just wondered what tests and therpys your little ones get?

Love Debbie and Cameron (08/12/04)

Let's see, Jaymes is 2 years old. We see the cardiologist twice a year (every 6 months - no problems except a very small PDA that he's watching), the hematologist once a year on his birthday (Jaymes had leukemia when he was a baby and we watch it closely), ped whenever necessary, thyroid once a year, opthamologist every 6 months. Currently he receives:

Early Intervention twice a week
PT once a week
Speech Therapy once a week
OT once a week

We just finished an evaluation for a feeding therapist and she's recommending: oral stimulation once a week and Vital Stim therapy four times a week for a month (not sure yet who's going to pay that one).

Jaymes attends day care full time since he was 2 months old. He has a fantastic time with the other kids. When he turns 3 we have the option of sending him to school in the public school district (I believe it's 3 hours a day) with other special needs kids or leaving him where he is (at his present day care).

PJ is 19 months and he receives Physical Therapy (for gross motor skills) once a week, Occupational Therapy (for fine motor skills) once a week, and Speech Therapy once a week.

He's had PT since he was about 6 months and is doing great! He started OT about 2-3 months ago and I am definitely seeing progress. He just started ST 3 weeks or so ago.

He goes to his pediatrician for his regular appointments. Oh, we also go to the Down Syndrome clinic annually. We go for any recommended tests (hearing, vision, thyroid, etc.) as needed.

The NHS system we get over here is very different from that in US.

In Nottingham we can access PT once a month (15mins) if we choose - many kids never have it. Speech therapy starts at about 1yr, and Portage from around 6mths. OT isn't something kids with DS are offered as Portage should cover that in many ways.

Matt no longer has PT as it stopped once he was walking (18mths), has seen his ST twice, and Portage is once every 6wks - apparently he's doing too well to be eligible for more, typical! The 'therapy' I feel does benefit him is going to a regular nursery two mornings a week and mixing with other 'typical' children. We also attend a 'Conductive Education' centre one afternoon a week for swimming, play and craft time. It's really helped Matt's concentration, and also his confidence in the water. This is run by SCOPE and we're just lucky there's a centre near us - if you have on nearby, it's well worth finding out if they offer anything for children with DS.

Gianna goes to an early intervention group session for 2 hours once a week which is really just directed play, and we pay privately for speech therapy once a fortnight. Here in rural Australia the services on offer are pretty pathetic but despite this Gianna's development is all going really well. (G is 2 1/2). We also see the ped once a year, thyroid tests once a year and hearing tested every 6 months.

Hunter has been doing PT & OT weekly. He sees his SLP every few months unless it we think he needs something extra(that will probably change after his 1st birthday) We also opted for EI to have their PT & OT come into his circle. The PT is coming on the 16th to evaluate and see how often she will come. The OT is not scheduled yet.

Daniel sees his pediatrician every 3 months or so, has his hearing checked with audiologist and sees the ENT MD every 6 months, the ophthalmologist once a year, and I think we are all done with the cardiologist. He also will get a thyroid screen once a year from now on (he's had three his first year).

He has PT once every two weeks and SLT once every two weeks. Both of these come to our home.

Austin must be high maitenance. He has:
PT - 2x a week
OT - 1x a week
ST - 1x a week

Well also have a speech therapist from EI as a consultant about 1 a month.

Cardiologist - 2x a year
Eyes checked - 1x a year
Thyroid - 2x a year
ENT - 2x a year (alot of good that did me....Austin has fluid on his ears ...we changed ENTs and are awaiting our next appointment)

Pediatrician every 3 months until he finishes his vaccines then it will go to once a year.
Developmental Pediatrician- every 6 months.
Amy

Callum is 28 months old

Medical
he had a chest x-rag at birth, ekg and heart echo at 6 weeks and 1 year.

Yearly check for thyroid & CBC.

Hearing test and check with an ENT every 6 months.

He's had his vision check twice (once at around 7 months and again last month)

Regular well baby check ups

Therapy
Speech twice a week
PT twice a week (dropping to once a week next month)
Infant Stimulation/Early education once a week
Swimming once a week
He's also entitled to OT once a week but we're in the process of looking for a new OT