It looks like we’re right on the brink of a new stage for Mary and we’re excited to see what it brings! We’ve been working to get Mary enrolled in a new kind of therapy since last summer, and now it’s about to start. Mary’s condition is very unique, so it has been a real challenge to determine which type of therapy would help her the most. The therapy we’ve chosen is based on applied behavior analysis (it’s called ABA therapy for short). There is still a bit of paperwork to complete, but it looks like Mary will be attending Hope Bridge center here in Bloomington 4-5 days per week from 9am-1pm. We’re thinking of it as half-day preschool with a one-on-one instructor. We’re thrilled that she has this opportunity and excited to see how the extra support might benefit her development.

It has been a long process to get things in place. We toured numerous facilities and were delayed numerous times, but we see God’s hand even in the delays. Hope Bridge is a new center that just opened in town in December, and it seems like a much better fit for Mary than the other places we had seen. And God has kindly caused things to move quickly once we found out about the new center.

It will have taken just over 8 weeks from the time I heard of this new center and submitted an inquiry till the time Mary should be starting therapy, including all necessary doctors’ signatures, evaluations, and even insurance approval! One of the other centers in town took at least that long just to schedule me for a tour and then, when I’d taken the time to come in, told me that they didn’t have any openings🤦🏼‍♀️.

This is a huge transition for Mary so I’m feeling pretty nervous about how she’ll do and what it will be like to have her away from home. But the center staff has been really helpful and supportive so far. Our hope is that we can build a therapy team that together can work on a program to help Mary developmentally as much as her new team of doctors has helped her physically! This new center plans to eventually have OT and speech on site which means she could receive those services at the same location. We’ll still need to fit in PT at another center, but having multiple therapies right where she’s already spending part of her days would be amazing. It would also allow the therapists to communicate and coordinate care and goals more easily.

We’d appreciate your prayers very much! Please pray:

• for great staff and therapists,
• that OT and speech would be available at Hopebridge Bloomington soon,
• that Mary would be comfortable and happy in the new center,
• and that she would continue to have good health and develop well.

As always, thank you so much for you love and prayers! They mean so much to us!