When shyness may be something more . . .

You either know, or have heard us mention, how shy Alli can be in many situations. Many have told us that this is just a phase or something she will outgrow, but in our hearts we have known it may be more than that. We wish all of you could see the outgoing, funny, sweet little girl we see all the time at home. Sadly, when she is outside the home or around non-family members, she completely clams up; unable to make eye contact or even speak above a whisper, if at all. It breaks our hearts that she begs us to take her to see her "friends" in the neighborhood but once she is around them, she is unable to speak or participate. Today, she told me that she wants to talk to her friends but is afraid and doesn't know why she cannot. That nearly brought me to tears! Garrett and I decided last night that we needed to get some professional help so today I made the scary call to Holly Ridge to have her evaluated. I spoke with the most wonderful caseworker who conducted the initial phone evaluation this morning. She decided that although Alli is right on target or ahead of her age in each developmental category, she needed to be evaluated for the social/personal interaction. We will begin with a three visit, in person evaluation and go from there. Praise God! Once again, we feel like we may be getting the help Alli needs. We are not looking for her to be a social butterfly, we just want to help her feel more comfortable in social settings. Please keep our peanut in your prayers . . .