Earlier this week, after 6 months of waiting, we were finally able to visit the one and only developmental pediatrician in Austin. The pediatrician talked with Matt and me about various aspects of Will's behavior as well as performed an assessment, eventually diagnosing Will with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
What does this mean exactly? The definition of autism has been expanded to include a broad range of disorders and varying levels of severity. We know that Will is autistic and that he falls on the spectrum somewhere, but he is too young at this point and the diagnosis is too new to know where. While the diagnosis is not exactly what we were expecting, we are thankful to have an official diagnosis so we can better tailor Will's therapy to his needs. How does the diagnosis change his treatment? For starters, we will add Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is a type of therapy often used with autistic individuals to help them build useful skills and function in a variety of environments. Will struggles with reading social and environmental clues that tell him how he should respond to a particular situation. Because he most often does not know what is expected of him, he either avoids the situation or has a severe tantrum because his anxiety levels are through the roof. ABA is meant to help him understand social cues so he can better respond emotionally to any given situation and develop relationships. We will also tweak Will's speech therapy as the pediatrician does not believe Will has a true speech delay outside of his autism. She believes he has a communication delay because of his autism, meaning all of the words are there, but he has a hard time communicating them. Overall, we will increase therapy time to 16 hours a week. So much therapy is daunting, but our understanding is that intense therapy at Will's age produces great results. We have a long road ahead of us, but our little guy is strong, determined and extremely bright. Our goal is not to treat Will so he can be "normal." Our goal is to provide Will with the tools he needs to be happy, successful and able to develop meaningful relationships throughout his life. We will always make sure that he knows we are not pushing him to be anyone other than who he is, and he will always know that we love him and are proud of him because he is our son.
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On Tuesday, I dropped Will off for the first day of preschool of 2013. He has been going to the same mother's day out program since he was 5 months old, but this first day was very different from the others. It was the first time that I left teary-eyed and wondering if he would have a good day. We have implemented so many things at home this summer that help Will communicate and function. The school has graciously offered to implement some of the same things, but everything is always harder away from home. Would he play well with the other kids? Would he get frustrated with his teachers? Would he be able to communicate to someone that he wants a drink of water? To my great relief, Will had an excellent first week of school. There were some behavior problems here and there but overall a great week.
This week has already been eye opening for me, a glimpse of what first days of school will be like for years to come. Sure, we will share in the excitement of a fresh pack of crayons, new clothes and seeing old friends, but the new school year will also involve long emails and conferences with teachers and administrators to inform them of our situation. I am walking the fine line right now of being an obnoxious parent, but I will refine my parent/teacher conference skills with time. We have been so lucky with Will's preschool. Each year he gets great teachers. It was Will's teacher last year who encouraged us to have him evaluated. The director of his preschool informed me of my resources in the community and helped us get in touch with the program that would eventually provide therapists for Will. This year his teacher kindly listened as I explained our situation and offered solutions for helping him in the classroom, including doing the brushing technique and providing pictures for his communication board. We are being spoiled now. I know every teacher and every school will not always be this easy because public schools have a wide range of students to reach in a limited amount of time. But, I am learning that most teachers WANT to help your child as long as you are willing to partner with them. Most teachers choose their profession because they love helping kids - all types of kids - navigate their education. I am nervous but hopeful for Will's future first days. We will take it one year at a time. Of course the most important part of the first day of school is the picture. We are going to look back on Will's first day pictures and laugh. Never has this child stood or sat still or held a cute board that says "first day" for a picture. Nope, the best picture I got was him screaming "I go!" at the door because he was ready to get to school. |
Charming, quirky and incredibly loving. Will loves his friends, swimming, the iPad, the Avett Brothers, observing the world upside down, climbing, jumping and being chased.
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October 2017
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