Hi Everyone!


I've decided to blog here rather than Isla's other website, as it's a bit all over the place.


Today was a very busy one for us, we had to collect some hip x-rays before the Botox Clinic with Dr L at 8.30am. We only had a short wait before we went in to see Dr Lowe, Mel, Michael and 3 med students. Isla was observed without her shoes & AFO's initially where Dr L noted that her hips are affected by the way she W sits. Upon checking her hip xray, her left hip is at 3.0 which is within the normal range, her right hip, however, is at 13.8 which is not normal. We need to keep an eye on it as it is partially dislocating.


Dr L has decided that Isla will definitely require Botulinum Toxin injections this year. His Clinic is booked out until November, but he says she will have it after then. The reason for Isla needing the botox is that she still has quite increased tone in the calves and her hamstrings, which, despite her walking quite well, is putting extra pressure on her little hips.


So, now we wait and see whether Dr L is returning to the Hospital in the next 3 months, otherwise we need to book in to see him in his private rooms to organise for the Botox in late November/December.


We left Campbelltown Hospital and set off for Westmead Childrens Hospital, where we had to see Professor O regarding possible blank seizures.


It took forever to find a parking spot, then a good 15 minutes walking around the hospital only to find we were in the wrong building (despite being given directions from Enquiries). In the end 2 maintenance works had to take us to the right spot with their security passes. Once again we were on the wrong level and couldn't find the right suite.


Once we finally found where we were going, we saw Professor O, who is really lovely. Nowhere near as nutty as the other Neuro's we've seen. He gave Isla a full check, head circumference of 48cms, he's concerned about her weight and height, so we'll have to go back to see Dr F about. Isla was a bit cranky by this stage, and didn't take too kindly to having her shoes and "helpers" taken off again! She walked a little without them, but not too far. He checked her eyes, her reflexes, palette - everything, he was very thorough.


Isla had one of her "turns" while he was examining her, he doesn't think there's anything behind them, rather he thinks she's just "daydreaming" which is good news. He's going to schedule her in for a EEG in the near future, have to wait for his office to call us with a date.


Isla sang and danced for him, she counted to 16 which he was impressed by. He said that her overall cognitive abilities & language skills are well above average, stating that she is very smart.


So all in all not too bad, considering!


Happy birthday to Aunty Helen for today!

Multidisciplinary screening clinic assessment report - 31.08.06


Background: Medical History: Isla was born via an elective caesarean for placenta praevia at 35 weeks gestation. Her Apgar scores were 9(1) and 9(5) and her birth-weight was 2585g. Her mother experienced multiple (12 in total) haemorrhages during her pregnancy, with the onset being at 22 weeks. There were no complications during the delivery.


Isla began sitting (“w” sitting) at 11 months and crawling at 12 months. Her paediatrician is Dr F. She has been seeing Dr L, rehab specialist for Botox and Dr A, neurologist.


She has been diagnosed with spastic diplegia. She is an only child.


ASSESSMENT Isla’s was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development 3rd Ed. This test looks at different areas of development, and gives a picture of the child’s skills at one point in time, providing information to guide intervention. Repeat assessment at a later age gives further information about the rate of development.


1. Cognitive skills (Occupational therapy) The cognitive scale looks at how your child think, reacts and learns about the world around him/her. Tasks measure interest in new things, attention to familiar and unfamiliar objects and play with toys, problem solving, puzzle skills, pretend play and pre-academic skills.


Isla performed at a 16-18 month level which was on the 25th percentile for her corrected age, and within the normal range. Isla was able to place pegs in a pegboard, blocks in a cup, and place a single puzzle piece. She enjoyed listening to a story , and demonstrated relational play on herself. She had some difficulty with finding hidden toys, and was not able to complete puzzles.


2. Speech and language skills (speech Pathology) The language scale has two parts. Receptive Communication looks at how well your child recognises sounds and how much your child understands spoken words and directions.


Expressive Communication looks at how well your child communicates using sounds, gestures or words. Overall Isla displayed skills on the 8th percentile representing average development. Today Isla presented as a bubbly little girl, who was very communicative with the therapists. She readily performed for social attention and had engaging interaction skills.


Receptive Communication (Understanding): Isla performed at a 10-12 month level. Today Isla showed that she could understand the meaning of “no!” and respond to simple social requests (eg “blow a kiss”). Isla did not identify any of tour toys (eg ‘ball…cup…doll”) , but she did identify familiar people/things (eg “where’s your Mum?”). Isla is not yet able to identify pictures in books when named by an adult, although at home Isla is beginning to find familiar pictures (eg “cat”) in her favourite book.


Expressive communication (talking): Isla performed at a 16-18 month level. Today Isla used single-word approximations (eg “tuh-dah”), babbled in play (eg “ba-ba” and readily imitated babble and words. Isla said 3 words for us today (ie “Mum”, “ta”) and at home she has a reported vocabulary of approximately 15 words. She shakes her head and says ‘no!” to protest. Isla combines gesture and words to communicate her needs (eg puts hands upwards and says “Mum” to be picked up). Isla did not name any of our toys/pictures today. She was unable to answer “yes/no” questions correctly.


Feeding: Isla eats a variety of textured family foods and can drink from a sipper cup/pop top. She is also learning (open) cup drinking, which is a fantastic skill for building tongue-tip strength. Today Isla was observed to drool saliva more form the right side of her lips, because she is teething.


3. Motor (Occupational therapy & Physiotherapy) The motor scale has two parts. The fine motor part looks at how well your child can use his/her hands and fingers to make things happen. Tasks include reaching, grasping, block building and drawing. The gross motor part looks at how well your child can move his/her body. Skills include rolling, sitting walking, climbing, balance and ball skills.


Overall Isla displays skills on the 5th percentile representing low average development. This is a combination score reflecting average fine motor development, and delayed gross motor development.


Fine Motor (Occupational therapy) 17-19 month level. Isla demonstrated a mild increase in tone in her upper limbs, presenting as a stiff quality, and clumsiness rather than abnormal patterns of movement. Currently she is managing age appropriate activities, but may have difficulty as the requirements for precise control increase. Isla is able to hold a pencil in her palm, and scribble spontaneously, she can copy a stroke but not with direction. Isla is able to isolate her index fingers to point, and use a pincer to place pellets into a container, and post coins into a money box. She does not have the motor control to stack blocks on top of each other.


Gross Motor (Physiotherapy): Isla is a charming little girl who is using crawling as her main form of mobility. She crawls with an increased lumbar lordosis and with her legs abducted and externally rotated. When she sits she tends to “w” sit and is unable to sit with her legs out in long sitting or with her legs crossed . She occasionally walks up on her knees. Isla can pull herself up to stand but not yet through ½ kneeling. She was previously up on her toes when she stood or cruised but it was difficult to assess today as Isla was in bilateral short leg casts. She did however, display a tendency to incline forwards in an attempt to stand up on her toes. She has two more weeks of serial casting at PAHU and then is scheduled for a review with Dr Lowe (paediatric rehab specialist) in Botox clinic. She has increased extensor tone with the lower limbs having more tone than the upper limbs and her right side is slightly more then the left. Her deep tendon reflexes are brisk. She is currently receiving Physiotherapy with Michael in Campbelltown. Isla would benefit from ongoing physiotherapy to improve her gross motor skills as well as continue to monitor her tone.


4. Social - Emotional (occupational therapy): Isla is a delightful little girl who was a little unwell and irritable today. She tries to feed herself with a spoon and fork, and can drink small amounts from a cup. Isla assists with dressing, enjoys her bath, but W-sits for stability. She attends Family Day Care 2 days a week.


Summary and recommendations: 1. Discussion with Michael , treating Physiotherapist, regarding ongoing Physiotherapy management. Attend Botox Clinic at PAHU on the 20.09006 and AFO Clinic on 26.09.06 2. Isla will be offered Occupational therapy and Speech Pathology intervention through Campbelltown PAHU. She will be placed on our waiting list as high priority