Girl, Evaluated

We took Jada to a pretty major developmental evaluation yesterday at DuPont Hospital in Delaware. A lot riding on this one: would she be diagnosed ADD or ADHD, would we experience the frustration of hearing yet another so-called professional not being able to see past Jada's charms and assuring us nothing was wrong, or would there be something new we hadn't anticipated that would come up?

The nice doctor took us through almost an hour of questions, probing Jada from the standpoint of our experiences with her. It was quite nice to unload all we'd seen and worried over. Then we sat back as the doctor took Jada through her paces. Amy teared up at points as she watched her little girl, less than four years removed from months of solitary confinement in her orphanage, shine at various exercises. I'm not easily impressed, but I found myself also beaming at times. Of course, for every above-age exercise Jada breezed through, there was an activity that someone her age should've been able to do that she struggled with, but that was to be expected.

At the end, we got some immediate diagnoses of where she's OK and where she needs help. A more thorough report awaits us, but I found the prompt feedback quite informative and somewhat relieving. I'll save the details for another post, but suffice to say Amy and I are so proud of our little girl, and reinvigorated in our efforts to do what we can to get her the helps and resources she needs to be her best.