Progress being made, but a sad day nonetheless

Today was our very last appointment with Marisa's lovely and wonderful OT.  First I'll state the progress portion of this post and then write about lovely Laine.  I wanted to give Laine the OT a keepsake made by Marisa.  I had some butterfly cardboard cut-out shapes, gluesticks, and squares of tissue paper.  I gave that to Marisa and also gave her a pencil to write her name and "from" on the back of the butterfly.  We sat down and I told her each letter to write, so F, then R, then O and so on.  Normally I would write the letter above and let her copy me below.  She doesn't trace over letters anymore but rarely does she write them spontaneously yet.  This time I just said the letters and she wrote them.  I'm so excited about this!  Writing her name has been an uphill challenge.  I won't say "battle" because she genuinely wants to do it but has struggled with it for a long time now.  So when she wrote the letters just at my saying them, I was thrilled.   When she was in public school briefly last fall (approx. 2 months), every day they wanted her to come in, get a pencil, sit down and write her name.  I kept telling them she wasn't there yet and that she would probably get frustrated with that task until she could master it on her own.  They finally acquiesced (ha!), and gave her a piece of paper with a capital M to start off her name.  Well, not surprisingly, she still was unable to complete that task.  The teacher did sit with her often to help her, but Marisa was just not ready yet to be able to write her letters independently.  It has taken months, working with me most days, to achieve that goal.  When I say this, believe me, I am not sad about that or comparing her in a negative way to other kids.  I am VERY proud of her achievements this past year and excited to see where we can go with the skills she has attained. 

Back to the OT.  This charming young lady has been in our lives for quite a while.  Her mother is also an OT with a local school district, and the family are members of our church.  I met her mom when Marisa was around 2 years old and she told me her daughter was available for babysitting.  So I hired Laine off and on to take care of Marisa back then.  After that year, Laine went to graduate school to pursue a masters in occupational therapy.  Then, about a year ago, I saw her mom again and she told me Laine had her masters and was now working in a local clinic.  I was in the market already for a new OT, and jumped at the chance to add Laine to Marisa's "team."   Laine worked with Marisa twice a month for almost a year, and she did a wonderful job with her.  Unfortunately, all good things often come to an end, and Laine is moving to Washington state to begin the next step in her personal journey.  We are very sad to see her go.  She had a very special bond with Marisa and that will be hard to replace.  The good news, though, is that Marisa has come a very long way in developing those fine motor skills.  She still has trouble with scissors but her writing and drawing are getting better, and her desire to work on fine motor tasks has improved as well.  All these things we adults, especially "typical" adults, take for granted, are hard won by our kids.  These are huge successes and it is nice to share them with talented, kind, and supportive therapists like Laine.