"It's all about me"
Dra’s Story
Born, August 1996. 5 weeks pre-mature, 4 lbs. 5 oz. 17 1/2 "
Early intervention October 1996, with C.S.D. domestic violence call, parents admitted illegal drug use. Placed in foster care. Labeled failure to thrive.
Grandmother came forward, permitted to be a foster parent October 20, 1996. Legal guardian June 1998.
Healthy but tremulous. Drug affected. Early intervention needs started March 1997 with Physical Therapy. Seizures came at about 6 months old, eyes started crossing. 
24 hour video eeg at 11 month old, massive myoclonic seizures.
Eye surgery at 11 1/2 months old. 
Started wearing A.F.O's (foot and leg stabilization braces) at about 18 months old.
Clinical Angelman Syndrome diagnosis's at just over 2 years old.
Seizure med's began at just over a year old, became seizure free, maintained med's for two years, then weaned off. Remained seizure free until July 2005, had a few while sleeping. Remains off med's
Has an I.E.P. is in life skills class. Works, still, with the same physical therapist, receives speech pathology, occupational therapy. 
Uses wheelchair, quad canes and a walker for mobility. Can walk independently with standby assistance, unstable, falls easily. 
Very friendly & loving, with a great personality. Very independent mind, uses full communication, many words (+/-, 50) sign language (+/-, 150) voice output device and pic syms. Eager to learn, loves to go and discover. Dra's language skills grow daily and I have a hard time keeping track of them. This is so great. Has exceeded and beyond, all expectations.

"It's all about me" continued

                                                         the saga continues

* January 27, 2009 many more words than listed before....I have not been able to keep up with his progress. Dra can now read 20 words (that we, considered to be "normal", can test) out loud and is writing!

* We will be adding to his I.E.P. in March, personal safety and emergency response. This is due to his enormous love, affection and friendliness for people. He is innocent and pure however, he is getting older and not all people want a hug. This summer I was asked, "Does Dra have an emergency response?" This really made me think! I really need to have this in place.

* Remained off med's until August 2009, Dra started having seizures during the night while sleeping, they only happened at night not during the day. Eeg showed some abnormal activity. Started Depakote in August 2009, we have a 2 year plan to stay on meds and ween off again.
 I will update this when I get time, much more has been going on since I wrote this