Free Dani's Story: A Journey From Neglect to Love by Diane Lierow, Bernie Lierow, Kay West Page A
such as ravioli (which I assumed she picked up with her fingers), and anything she was able to drink from her sippy cup.
In late July, while still in the hospital, Danielle was also evaluated by Dr. Kathleen Armstrong, the director of the Health Pediatric Psychology Program at the University of South Florida (USF). It was Garet who took Danielle to those appointments. Garet told us that normally they would get an assessment from a myriad of doctors, but Dr. Armstrong is a nationally recognized expert in severe trauma, and she was recommended by Tampa General.
Garet drove Danielle to USF and walked with her to Dr. Armstrong’s building, holding her hand so that she wouldn’t bolt, which was one of her favorite things to do. It was easy to gain access to the break area from the waiting room, so Danielle went in there and walked around banging on soda machines, rearranging chairs, and was just constantly moving. One of Dr. Armstrong’s staff was eating lunch in the break room, and she had some cold chicken on a plate. Danielle walked over to her, grabbed a chicken leg, put it in her mouth, and looked at Garet, then at the lady. The lady got so mad. She told Garet, “Get your daughter away from my lunch.” The thing with Danielle, Garet explained, was that unless you looked really closely or she was having a fit, she didn’t appear to be obviously handicapped. Although she was on medication that caused her to drool and her tongue to hang out the side of her mouth when she was tired, she didn’t look like a Down syndrome child, and she wasn’t in a wheelchair. She could be mistaken for a very ill-behaved little girl—which is probably what this woman assumed. You wouldn’t think the lady would want the chicken after it was in Danielle’s mouth, but she did. So Garet tugged the chicken leg out of Danielle’s mouth, washed it off, and laid it back on the woman’s plate.
Bernie was laughing so hard at the story that he nearly choked, and I think I smiled for the first time since we had sat down with the report. We could both visualize Danielle with a chicken leg in her mouth, probably looking like one of our dogs when it takes something it knows it is not supposed to have.
The moment of humor was brief, because the information on the next few pages was devastating.
Dr. Armstrong’s report included observations from the hospital, as well as input from Garet. Danielle was reported to be eating like an infant, tolerating a bottle with milk and some table foods, which had to be fed to her. Her sleep habits were often disrupted, although she napped two times a day for thirty to sixty minutes. That sounded like a plus to me. My kids’ naps were my favorite time of the day, and my boys stopped taking them long before I was ready to give up this quiet break.
Danielle was described to Dr. Armstrong as a little girl who kept to herself and did not initiate contact. In the hospital, she initially exhibited self-stimulatory behaviors, including head banging, head shaking from side to side, hand flapping, aversion of gaze, and rocking and pulling away from attempts at contact. After several days, the hospital staff said that she was making brief eye contact and would allow hugs. But “she roams about the hospital floor or playroom without purpose. She does not use a crayon or a spoon. She does not stack blocks. She does not help with dressing or use a cup.
“Danielle laughs and occasionally uses babbling sounds, but is usually silent. She does not follow one step commands.”
The next section was a combination of two different testing methods to measure where Danielle was in certain abilities and functions. It was eye-opening, to say the least.
Gross Motor
20 months
Visual Reception
4 months
Fine Motor
9 months
Receptive Language
2 months
Expressive Language
6 months
Physical Age
20 months
Self Help Age
6 months
Social Age
4 months
Academic Age
6 months
Communication Age
2 months
I
In late July, while still in the hospital, Danielle was also evaluated by Dr. Kathleen Armstrong, the director of the Health Pediatric Psychology Program at the University of South Florida (USF). It was Garet who took Danielle to those appointments. Garet told us that normally they would get an assessment from a myriad of doctors, but Dr. Armstrong is a nationally recognized expert in severe trauma, and she was recommended by Tampa General.
Garet drove Danielle to USF and walked with her to Dr. Armstrong’s building, holding her hand so that she wouldn’t bolt, which was one of her favorite things to do. It was easy to gain access to the break area from the waiting room, so Danielle went in there and walked around banging on soda machines, rearranging chairs, and was just constantly moving. One of Dr. Armstrong’s staff was eating lunch in the break room, and she had some cold chicken on a plate. Danielle walked over to her, grabbed a chicken leg, put it in her mouth, and looked at Garet, then at the lady. The lady got so mad. She told Garet, “Get your daughter away from my lunch.” The thing with Danielle, Garet explained, was that unless you looked really closely or she was having a fit, she didn’t appear to be obviously handicapped. Although she was on medication that caused her to drool and her tongue to hang out the side of her mouth when she was tired, she didn’t look like a Down syndrome child, and she wasn’t in a wheelchair. She could be mistaken for a very ill-behaved little girl—which is probably what this woman assumed. You wouldn’t think the lady would want the chicken after it was in Danielle’s mouth, but she did. So Garet tugged the chicken leg out of Danielle’s mouth, washed it off, and laid it back on the woman’s plate.
Bernie was laughing so hard at the story that he nearly choked, and I think I smiled for the first time since we had sat down with the report. We could both visualize Danielle with a chicken leg in her mouth, probably looking like one of our dogs when it takes something it knows it is not supposed to have.
The moment of humor was brief, because the information on the next few pages was devastating.
Dr. Armstrong’s report included observations from the hospital, as well as input from Garet. Danielle was reported to be eating like an infant, tolerating a bottle with milk and some table foods, which had to be fed to her. Her sleep habits were often disrupted, although she napped two times a day for thirty to sixty minutes. That sounded like a plus to me. My kids’ naps were my favorite time of the day, and my boys stopped taking them long before I was ready to give up this quiet break.
Danielle was described to Dr. Armstrong as a little girl who kept to herself and did not initiate contact. In the hospital, she initially exhibited self-stimulatory behaviors, including head banging, head shaking from side to side, hand flapping, aversion of gaze, and rocking and pulling away from attempts at contact. After several days, the hospital staff said that she was making brief eye contact and would allow hugs. But “she roams about the hospital floor or playroom without purpose. She does not use a crayon or a spoon. She does not stack blocks. She does not help with dressing or use a cup.
“Danielle laughs and occasionally uses babbling sounds, but is usually silent. She does not follow one step commands.”
The next section was a combination of two different testing methods to measure where Danielle was in certain abilities and functions. It was eye-opening, to say the least.
Gross Motor
20 months
Visual Reception
4 months
Fine Motor
9 months
Receptive Language
2 months
Expressive Language
6 months
Physical Age
20 months
Self Help Age
6 months
Social Age
4 months
Academic Age
6 months
Communication Age
2 months
I
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