It has been a while since I have had time to sit down and write. I guess you could say that this blog has been a bit neglected lately. A lot of things have been going on with our little man such as appointment after appointment that there doesn't seem to be the time to sit down and write or maybe this mommy is just too worn out at the end of the day.
I will continue for where we left off last time.... Alex has been seen at Wilder for about 4 months now as well as in school that long. He is loving school and wants to go every day especially on weekends when there is no school. There have been some ups and downs that come with going to school. Especially the colds and viruses that come along with that. I think (knock on wood) that we are past all of that! He has also had a bit of a hard time transitioning at school and keeping on task with what is going on. When he wants something he wants it now and wants to do it his way or else. We are working hard on this to teach him how to express his emotions as well as find a way for him to communicate what he wants. Picture ques have been a great thing! He now has a little ring of pictures that we carry around, of course mommy is continually thinking of pictures that need to be added. Thanks to Gael at Wilder we can get as many pictures as we want. Speaking of Wilder we finally have a diagnosis...PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified, this is in the Autism category) as well as a lot of sensory issues. She determined that he is very close to being on the Spectrum but at that time didn't feel there were enough indicators. As of Friday Gael asked us if we were interested in a medication evaluation. I told her absolutely not, at least not when he is this young. If we had tried therapies and they didn't work then we would maybe talk about it but not now. She suggested that we get him in Sensory Integration Therapy as well as have him evaluation at Fraser for Autism.
After being on the phone most of the day with insurance companies as well as clinics we have Alex on a waiting list at Fraser that is a 4-6 month wait and an evaluation for Speech and Occupational Therapy on the 18th of May. I then proceeded to call the county to find out if there was a way he could qualify for any supplemental insurance or aid based on his diagnosis. The man that I spoke with was quite taken back by the fact that Alex had been diagnosed with an Autism disorder at the age of 3. He kept telling me that kids change as they get older and are we sure. I told him all of the things Alex has and even told him that he could watch him for a day. After this man got over his shock he told me that yes he could qualify but we would have to wait till our evaluation at Fraser was finished. Then he would have to be deemed disabled in order to qualify. I guess there is quite a process for this. So now we sit and wait for our evaluation to be scheduled. I also found out that if he does get deemed disabled he will qualify for social security as well.
This has been a very overwhelming process. I was just about in tears yesterday when they were asking me all sorts of questions as it was almost like they didn't believe me. Of course the whole time Alex was screaming in the background and pulling on me. One lady kept telling me oh you better go take care of that screaming. I was like he does that all day long for no know reason. Not sure that she liked that answer but kept talking to me.
The hard part about all of this is that these people are making a diagnosis on what THEY see, the problem with that is that there are far more things going on at home that aren't always present in the testing areas. I mean come to the grocery store with me and watch the behaviors. I know they are doing their job but I needed a place to vent about the process.
I think for now that is the shortened version of what has been going on here. I will add more when I get another little slice of time to do so.
