Thankful Thursday ~ William Michael

I absolutely adore that you can see the reflection of me taking his picture in his eyes. That's where every mother should be...front and center in their child's eyes.
Will loves Lightning McQueen, cars and trucks and he'll even play Barbies with his sister Grace.
Will is hilarious pretty much all of the time...he thinks he's a comedian and laughs at all of his own jokes. ;)

About 2 weeks ago I took William out to check a possible new location and I shot this series in front of these wooden doors at an old stone church out in the countryside. You can see the many facets of his personality.
Last June we had Will evaluated by an adoption attachment specialist. I was interviewed
by the therapist, she observed the 2 of us interacting together and him playing with toys over several sessions. She was also able to interview him, I was amazed what she could get out of a 3 year old. The evals and testing took about 2 months to complete. I'm relieved and so thankful that Will does NOT have reactive attachment disorder. His tests do show he has Sensory Processing Disorder and in the last few weeks his symptoms have worsened some and it's obvious to us that her diagnosis is correct. Next week he'll have a new IEP and will start OT for fine motor and his sensory issues. I'm thankful that I got the ball rolling to have him tested and we have some answers. As parents we are our children's only voices and their advocates. I'm a huge proponent of early intervention and screening of all adopted children, especially those who lived in an orphanage or foster care situation.
They are especially high risk for sensory, speech, fine and gross motor delays. We are blessed to live in a state that has outstanding schools and early childhood programs.