Jordan goes to pre-school

Jordan and his lil sis, Gabriella

At the end of Jordan’s 2-year-old early intervention class last year, we were faced with where he would attend pre-school. It was another change in what we had envisioned for our kiddos because we had not planned on sending him when he was 3.

We met with our local school district’s therapist and teachers to come up with the best plan for Jordan. We went in wanting to keep him at the current school he has been in because of his relationship with his therapist, available equipment to use and try and the lack of change for him for the upcoming school year.

We were ready to put up our argument, feeling there would be plenty of push back to keep him in our school district.

Not only did they give us the nod to continue, they agreed to give him extended school year, which allowed him to keep seeing Sandy (his physical therapist) throughout the summer.

Instead of going to the achievement center, we met at various places in the community. We wanted him to work on community mobility such as managing the parks, swimming in the pool, and setting up working on a treadmill at my parents’ home. It was fun to be outside in his own environment.

We were so excited to set up his meeting with his new teachers. We heard nothing but praise going into the school year.

As we usually do, we set it up as a family event. Jordan and his lil sis, Gabriella, played with his teachers as we discussed Jordan. They were so kind and listened to our wishes. He was also excited to be able to ride the bus 2 times a week.

One of our wishes was to have him walk as much as possible in his crocodile gait trainer. They were trained by the therapists on each piece of his bracing to allow his muscles and bones to assist in proper alignment.

As his first week drew to a close, Jordan mentioned, not once but twice, that his hip hurt. This was a new experience for us because he hadn’t complained of pain before.

We set up an appointment with Dr. Baird. He didn’t feel anything alarming. However he ordered a hip x-ray. Unfortunately, the x-ray showed that Jordan’s hip is subluxing.

Because Jordan isn’t putting a lot of weight through his hips in proper alignment for an extended time, his socket isn’t grooved properly. We’re still in the process of coming up with a plan, but for now we will be watching it.

It’s hard not to wonder how we may have avoided these circumstances. Did we do enough? How much do we focus on therapy and how much do we just play? When do we almost force him to use his walker in public when he isn’t able to go far and you’re carrying it the rest of the way? What’s enough?

Randy and I have challenged ourselves to focus on trying to find creative ways to provide his needs. There doesn’t seem enough time in the day, but God gave us this little boy for a reason, to love, guide, assist and teach him to be the best he can be.

So we’ll pull our boot straps up and see where they’ll take us.