According to World Health Organization, 15 million babies are born premature each year. As the leading cause of death among children under the age of five years old, it is important that these babies and families receive all the important information and top-notch healthcare as possible. Hospitals are lacking the medical professionals with specialists in neonatology. With the accessibility of practical and cost-effective healthcare, 3 out of 4 premature babies can be saved. Luckily, medical professionals with the expertise that would help her thrive surrounded my cousin Lillian, who was born at 31 weeks and 6 days. With a birth weight of merely 3.9 pounds, getting her weight up was an essential aspect of her treatment plan to reach the long-term goal of going home with her family. Lillian was placed on a feeding tube for 37 out of the 44 days she spend in the NICU. Lillian didn’t receive feeding intervention until it was time for her to transition to whole food. …show more content…
Because of early intervention services, Lillian is a typically developing 5 years old. My family (knows first hand how important early intervention is) is strong believers in early intervention services. I started receiving early intervention services at two and a half years old for delayed speech and language. I received speech services until I was 6 years old. After my services finished, I experienced (felt) the academic and social consequences of having a communication disorder. I was struggled academically. I was constantly made fun of for my speech impediment by my peers. After being re-evaluated for speech services in the 3rd grade, I didn’t qualify. The speech language pathologist told my parents “it would just take time”. Eventually I caught up to my peers, and surpassed the typical