We finally got our appointment for the evaluation and they sent us a packet to fill out and bring with us. I swear those weeks went by more slowly than usual.
Finally it's time and I think Dan and I were both pretty nervous, but I was also looking forward to having some kind of an answer. So, we are going through the mini evaluation process to see if there is an indication for a full evaluation and the lady is asking us tons of questions while Wyatt plays and she watches him. Then she decides there are signs and mentions Autism. My first reaction was..wait..what? Autism? We came here to discuss ADD..? She explains that he clearly shows signs of Autism and in her opinion he is on the spectrum. While we absorb this, she gets out her *kit* and asks Wyatt to do several different things. He happily did all of the things she asked the best he. He looked like he was having fun really. After that we discussed what she saw in him and what it all means. He is behind in small motor skills, social skills, life skills, and several other things. He is doing well in large motor skills and is border line with communication.
She suggests we try to get him into a PreK special needs class as soon as possible and set up a full evaluation to get a better idea of what is going on.
We get the next appt set up and get on the waiting list for a class. It was a long 2 months waiting for our appt. Finally a new lady comes to our house and we start the same routine. She asks us every question you can think of about Wyatt and observes him and then pulls out her stuff and interacts with him. It was very interesting to see his behaviors from someone else’s perspective. It's hard to be objective when it's been your normal since forever. So she left with the understanding that she believes he is on spectrum too. We were left with a whole lot of unanswered questions.
Shortly after that, a class opened up and we met with Wyatt's teacher. We all adore her. She is very positive, sweet, and patient. He started school and did great other than being pissed that we hadn't signed him up for bus yet. We fixed that quickly and he still loves going to school! He is in a very small class with 3 teachers, so he has a lot of attention and a lot of help.
We recently had a meeting with the lady that did his full evaluation and his teacher to discuss if we should officially diagnose him with Autism on the educational side of things. I don't think Dan and I were at all prepared for this meeting or to make this decision. I had been doing an enormous amount of research, but there is far too much information available and it is all very confusing. We were told that he is very borderline and it is possible that with continued help that he will *fall off the spectrum* as he gets older. At least educationally. We were also told that he would have all the same services available to him whether he was officially diagnosed as having Autism or not. Being naive, we figured what's the point of giving him the label if we can do all the same things with or without it? We chose to not give him the official diagnosis of Autism at this time. I think I may regret that decision now.
The hardest part is that no one is talking to us. We have no idea if he is receiving therapy at school or if his behaviors warrant therapy and what kind. We have no idea what we should be doing for him at home. We have no idea what information we find online or in books or hear from other people is a load of bullshit and what has a good base. It's like they said, Hey! Guess what!? We are going to totally rip your world apart and tell you your kid has a fairly serious illness that has no cure and we are going to dump you on your asses to figure it out all by yourselves! Oh and by the way, we have all this knowledge to help but we don't really care that much so we are going keep it to ourselves!
Pretty awesome right!? Thanks a ton!! Assholes.
So, we have been left with a trillion questions and one answer. Our smart, handsome, hilarious baby boy has Autism.
I am fed up, so I am turning to the one person that I trust in all of this. The only person that has showed they care at all. I am setting up a meeting with his teacher as soon as possible. Hopefully we can get a whole lot of the answers that we desperately need.
