The Beginning could mean many things, such as the day our little man was born or the beginning of his journey into Special Ed.I believe the beginning is both. To have one without the other would be leaving out part of the story. Of course I will not chronicle things from his birth but will point out that there were many difference between him and other children his age. From birth on Alex craved stimulation..he would watch TV from the day he was born and loved to be in motion (the baby swing was his best friend). He also started talking multiple words strung together at 9 months old. Alex was very particular about things (he hated socks and shoes, wanted doors closed, lined things up etc). As he got older the behaviors started, he started acting out and couldn't for the life of him sit still.
I discussed these behaviors with the pediatrician quite frequently and was told that it was normal and then was told that I needed to be sterner with him or that my husband needed to discipline more. We were also told to put him in preschool and see what happens. We of course had a tough decision to make...where to send him. The decision pretty much came down to what was most convenient and that happened to be a Catholic school. We did know others who had sent there kids there and had a great experience. The first day comes around which is a parent child day. Alex was so excited to go to school and hoped for the best. Of course reality hit and he couldn't sit still and transitions were very hard for him. He ended up crying and we had to take him out of the room. They convinced us to stay and see what happens. He was good while they were outside. He continued to go there for a month but I kept hearing that he had a rough day and that he needed a lot of supervision. Finally they recommended that we have him screened by Early Childhood. The problem was that his school was in a different county so they wouldn't do it there so we had to do it in our county. I worked some mommy magic and got him an appointment for the next week.
We went to the screening appointment and of course it went just about as I expected it to go. He couldn't a whole lot of what they asked, mainly due to the fact that he couldn't sit still. Of course we had a lady that did not do well with kids who don't do as asked. After getting her supervisor to assess him we were finally referred on to a ECSE (Early Child Special Education) team. Within another week we were in for our next appointment. After that one they came out to our house to observe him. Of course Thanksgiving was in there and threw a kink into getting his report done so he could get into school.
They determined that he qualified for services under a general label of Developmentally Delayed. In this they know that he has fine motor skill issues, behavioral issues, sensory issues, and autistic like behaviors (possibly PDD-NOS). It was also suggested to us that we should have him screened medically for any neurological issues mainly ADHD. After a few places telling us that they didn't take our insurance we found The Wilder Foundation. The good news about Wilder is that they have a grant for kids under 5. Alex is now enrolled in school 4 days a week for 2 1/2 hrs a day. He also gets to ride a bus to and from school. He is ecstatic about it! We have also been seen at Wilder multiple times.
I will end this post here for now...more details to come as I have more time to write. Right now my little man wants his mommy to snuggle him and I can't resist that.
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