Happy birthday to Lennie – 3 today. He has had a perfect day in Cornwall with family and friends. His awesome sensory non-dairy cake was a huge hit (thank you Kate), and he managed to join in all the games at his little party. Zoe even came up with an idea for including him in a (pre-)Easter egg hunt – putting small bells and some chocolate inside plastic egg cases, then shaking the eggs for Lennie so that he could listen out and find them. Thanks to all for the lovely, thoughtful presents and your kind messages and texts.
We also had some great news this week. Lennie had a cognitive development assessment at Great Ormond Street – a morning of fun games and activities (for him) and lots of helpful hints and tips for me about managing his behaviour and development. They reassured us that Lennie is doing well – his verbal, listening and sensory-motor skills are very good for a blind child, and he is nearly keeping up with other sighted children of his age. Best of all, the consultant told us that if Lennie was going to have severe learning difficulties, they would have picked them up by now. We had been told that his brain injury (caused by the tumour and the effects of the proton therapy he went through) was extremely likely to lead to complex needs – but there has been no sign of any cognitive deficit yet. This doesn’t mean he won’t have learning/memory/behaviour difficulties at all – he almost certainly will – but they will be ‘subtle’ rather than severe. This is a huge relief to us, and feels like a lovely birthday present.
LookingAfterLennie 