Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Sometimes it all falls into place.....

The appointment tonight with Beth's new psychologist was amazing. I really feel like we connected and were heard and we have found someone who wants to help our child. The entire hour was all of us talking. Beth demonstrated her stress and aggression when she was asked not to play with certain games. The psychologist feels that Beth fits the exact profile for Asperger's and really stressed that Beth needs a neuro-psych evaluation. We absolutely agree with her, but our bank account really doesn't agree. Neuro-psych evaluations are really not cheap and aren't covered by insurance in most cases. So... we're working on that. In the mean time she is going to start seeing Beth on a regular basis. She's going to focus on bio-feedback, stress and anxiety coping skills, and how to communicate her emotions. I like that option because I'm really not comfortable medicating her... not until we've exhausted all other options.

Jake has officially been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Beth's therapist said PDD-NOS is really the "we don't know exactly what it is yet" diagnosis. Peter's behavioral pediatrician is really great. I really like how straight-forward she is. She is even willing to see Beth as well. Peter is going to be starting ABA therapy through Early Intervention on November 3rd. It will start out as 10 hours a week and over time expand into 20-25 hours a week. I know this is going to be the very best thing for us.... but re-arranging life for everyone in the house to accommodate that is already causing tension.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Lots to update!

I'll start with the meeting with Beth's teacher.

I believe Mrs. B has the best of intentions. I believe she genuinely wants what is best for my child and I really appreciate that. I also believe, however, that 5 weeks isn't long enough for her to know better than I do. She agreed to the meeting and she did listen... and she did come up with a fantastic idea of having Beth journal when she's upset. She admitted that Beth is emotional but also believes that it is normal for first graders. I agree with that statement... first grade is hard and some kids really do have a hard time adjusting to it.

Here's what I know...

I know she didn't feel that burn. How do I know this? I know this because I've lived with her for 6 years. I've seen her reactions to injuries. I once saw her have an outbreak of hives so badly the pedi had a hard time telling what they were and she never even flinched. I understand that she told the teacher it burned when she was questioned about it. She's not even the one who told the teacher... it was her classmates. Let's go over real fast what really happened....

She ran her hand over the pizza warmer. She felt a warm sensation. One of the lunch aids saw this happened and looked at her hand and told her she was burned. They sent her to the nurse's office and the nurse most likely made statements regarding how it must hurt, and how they should run it under cold water to make it hurt less. She went back to class where kids saw it and told her teacher that Beth got hurt. All of this resulted in Beth realizing it must hurt.

So no, she did not feel that burn and arguing with me about it is not going to change that fact.

I know she is overstimulated during school. I understand that the teacher doesn't see this. I absolutely get that she is perfectly behaved and shows no signs of overstimulation (that the teacher can pick up on) at school. But when she gets home she is overstimulated to the point of hurting herself. I double checked with a fantastic child psychologist... this is normal. She's storing up all of her anxiety, confusion, and otherwise negative emotions for home.

Yes, I think I found Beth a psychologist. I already really like this woman. Beth's initial appointment is 10/25. Yay for that!!



Peter's eval is Monday.... if we can get a diagnosis we will start ABA therapy through Early Intervention not long after that. We definitely need this diagnosis... he needs the therapy.

Jolie had her screening at the preschool today. No idea how that went... will know more next week.

=)