A mother who drove her kids into the Atlantic Ocean and then left them there can now have written contact with them.

Ebony Wilkerson hasn't had any contact with her children since she drove her 2012 Honda Odyssey into the rough surf at Daytona Beach on March 4, 2014.

On Friday, Wilkerson appeared in court asking a judge to change the terms of her bond and let her see her children. During that hearing, Wilkerson's attorney, assistant Public Defender Craig Dyer told Judge Leah Case "the son actually thought his mother had died. He was not, until later, informed she is alive but there's been absolutely no contact." The judge granted permission for her to have limited written contact with her three older children who are in DCF custody.  The judge declined to grant her visitation with her 5-month-old son.  Wilkerson was pregnant with him at the time of the incident.

The South Carolina woman is out of jail, while awaiting trial on $90,000 bail. She's charged with three counts each of attempted second-degree murder and child abuse.

Following the hearing, Dyer told reporters he was upset at how state prosecutors have handled this case from the beginning, saying they've been slow to release information to them. Says Dyer, "what's been going on with this is people have dropped the ball all along in this investigation. They don't care what happened. All they're interested in is, I hate to say it guys, is what you guys have to say."

Assistant State Attorney Kevin Sullivan says his number one interest is the children. "I've read those reports," Sullivan said, "and...my concern is based on the mental health and stability of the children and not so much for the mother's side, although that's a component as well."

Judge Leah Case has set aside three weeks for the trial, which is slated to begin January 20th. She advised attorneys it could take some time to seat a jury based on the extensive pre-trial publicity.