Transitions

Hannah in November 2008, around the time of her first EI consultation

This has a big few weeks with regards to transitions in my life, both on a personal level and a parental level.

Hannah’s good friend, Bertrand, graduated from Early Intervention today.  Such a huge, huge milestone.

Then I looked at my calendar.   January 14, 2011.  Transition meeting with Early Intervention and School District.   Wow, how did we get here so fast?   Hannah will be graduating from EI herself this July.  She will be THREE years old!

I think about when we started EI services.  Hannah was just 4 months old at that first meeting.   She didn’t even have an official diagnosis at that point yet.   This was the beginning of meeting so many wonderful therapists who came into Hannah’s life and have helped her excel to where she is today.

I go back and think about her original prognoses — 9 months, then 18 months.  I remember sitting with her EI coordinator back in Texas and having her mention this “transition meeting” in a year or so when she was 2-1/2, wondering in my heart if we would ever get to that point.   I never let myself believe we would be discussing transitioning her to the school district.

But we will be.  In just a few weeks.   We will be having that infamous meeting I had always hoped to have but was so fearful that I would never see — the aging out of Early Intervention.    Now we just have to find a way to keep her wonderful service coordinator in the picture after that — Hannah has grown quite attached to her!