Got a call from the Preschool Teacher

Ok so the Preschool teacher called today and we talked for quite awhile and I gave her some examples of behavior she might see out of Kaitlyn and really gave her an idea of who she is. The teacher seems very nice and willing to monitor Kaitlyn's behavior at school and we will talk everyday about how the day went in the first couple weeks. We will also be watching to see how her behavior is at home after going to school.

So yesterday when I finally got the diagnosis I KNEW was coming... for some reason it hit me like a ton of bricks because it was actually REAL and on paper. Immediately my brain started racing and I was asking myself where I went wrong and if I did something to cause this and all kinds of crazy things. I do know that there is nothing I did to cause this and I also know that my daughter is EXTREMELY smart beyond her years and is VERY in tune with herself and can totally learn the skills she needs to "beat" this and she will be perfectly fine. She is a strong little girl and she WANTS to be able to have friends - she told me and the Dr that - she wants to play with kids - she just needs the tools on how to do that! She will get there and it's SO early in her life that this will barely effect her in the long run.

Ok yesterday I let my emotions get the better of me... today is another day and it's like any other... just because there is a label doesn't change my love or parenting of my child or children, I should say! On we go to the next obstacle.... whatever that might be! :)

Diagnosis

Here are the Dr's words "My diagnoses for Kaitlyn will be Asperger's Syndrome and Overanxious Disorder of Childhood (which is comparable to Generalized Anxiety Disorder in adults)."

Thats really all I have in me right now... I have a lot to think about. I just keep telling myself this is not because of anything I did or didn't do...

:*(

Dr's - School Districts - Frustration!

Well the Dr (and US!) don't think putting Kaitlyn into the regular Preschool class is going to be a good idea. 15 kids and 2 "teachers" or not I know it's going to be a disaster. I called today to talk to the Chairperson for the Committee on Preschool Special Education about getting Kaitlyn reevaluated which is fine she says she is willing to do it because she understands our concerns. She wants us to WAIT though and put Kaitlyn into the regular PreK class and see how she does. I'm really not looking forward to doing that and it's really frustrating me. I mean, I understand the idea of it all... maybe she will do fine and I'm sure AT school she will do great but *I'M* the one who is going to have to deal with all the tantrums that come from her being triggered there with the other kids.

Right now... I just dont know what to do. Kaitlyn (even at 2 1/2) is REALLY smart and tested above average during her evaluations then (except speech) and I'm starting to realize that getting a child with Apsergers or even a Severe Social Anxiety Disorder help to be able to go to school is not going to be easy. I doubt Kaitlyn will even qualify for ANY services without the report from the Developmental Pediatrician saying specifically that she has Aspergers (since that is on the Autism Spectrum and there is a spot for that for them to agree to services) but going by the evaluation that the school district does, she will blow it out of the water and be fine. First of all it's done by adults whom Kaitlyn wil surely talk to and get along with... they need to see her around other kids and really watch her behavior overall and not watch her play with toys and can she stack some freakin blocks... ARGH! I'm getting angry about this and frustrated and sad.

I just wish I knew what to do to make it all better... if I had money I would just put her in a private school and say screw it to the public school system - but we are one of the "lucky ones" that have free Preschool and we should be happy about that...

Evaluations EARLY!!!

Well we got a call yesterday from the Developmental/Behavioral Ped's office in Woodstock, NY and they had a cancellation for this morning at 9am! We JUMPED on it! It was SUPER hard since Jon worked all freaking night and then we spent 6 or 7 hours, with driving, after he got off work! We even managed to have Kaitlyn vomit all over herself, her clothes, and her car seat 2 miles from the office when we were running late as it was. It had to happen the ONE time I don't have a change of clothes for her, except a pair of panties, in the car. We ended up stopping on the side of the road, stripping her, cleaning the puke off her and out of the carseat and putting her in the clean panties and my purple zip-up sweatshirt jacket that luckily was in the back!! The poor girl had to ride the rest of the way to the Dr and home sitting on a poncho in her seat and I strapped the regular seatbelt around her. It was quite the drive and we did make it!

Jon, even being tired as hell, did good and handled the kids while I spent over 3 hours in talking with the Dr doing the Intake. It went well and we managed to get through everything and then she spent about a half hour watching Kaitlyn and asking her questions. The Dr told me that Kaitlyn managed to show her most of the bahavior of I was talking about in that short time (minus a meltdown, of course!).

While in the office she gave me a lot of "tests" to take home and fill out as homework - SCARED, CAST and a PDD one. I went through them breifly and realized... poor Kaitlyn has issues lol :) She also gave me names of places that could help out with Kaitlyn's Social Skills so hopefully we can get working on that but the main thing we want to do right now is get this whole school thing worked out. She even called the School District from her office while I was there to try to get the ball rolling on getting her reinstated/reevaluated by the PreSchool Special Education board to see about getting her either services or getting her placed in a Center setting. This all has NOTHING to do with Education... and everything to do with people and noise and stuff. We have ourselves a little Einstein here who is a super smart little girl and very literal but just cant stand being around people and gets very anxious - yes, ladies and gentleman - Einstein had Aspergers!!! As did many other very eccentric but very talented/intelligent people!!

The Dr, of course, couldnt do a full diagnosis today but does, in fact, agree with us that she believes she is "spectrumy" - as she called it! She believes that Kaitlyn would be better suited in a specialized school rather than thrown into a regular school where she may not be able to handle it.

So right now our main concern, as I said, is to get the stuff going with the school! :) So that is where we are and we have a follow up appointment with the Dr in Woodstock, NY in October.

Allergist/Eye Dr/Behavior Update

Well this post might be a little long! First off at Kaitlyn's 4yr appt the Dr sent her to the Allergist to finally find out if she had a true milk allergy and to see what other, if any, allergy she had. Well it turns out she really doesnt have any allergies (sensitivities) and she is also Lactose Intolerant. So when we want/need her to have dairy she can take a lactaid pill and be all good. We are keeping her on the Soy milk she has been on forever now because trying to switch her made screwed up up gastro-intestinally, lets just say. Poor kid was sick and "backed up" for a week or so!!

Also at her 4yr appt she failed her eye exam and was sent to the Opthamologist where we found out she is 20/25 in her right eye and 20/70 in her left (Hyperotic). It's basically something about her eye focusing behind her retina instead of on it. So right now she has some SUPER strong SUPER thick lenses on her cute little glasses to try and help fix her eyes. Hopefully the script will get better with time and we can avoid having to patch her... for now it's a waiting game and we go back to the eye doctor in two months after wearing her glasses and see how she is doing.

As for Kaitlyn's behavior... Jon and I did some serious hunting around as well reading in a few books on trying to figure out her behavior. When sitting back and observing Kaitlyn over these last couple of months and putting together everything over the last two years we went and had a meeting with her Pediatrician. Instead of trying to get it all written down here (because I could write for pages!) I will simply say that the Dr, Jon and I agreed that we need to have her evaluated by a Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrician to rule out Aspergers Syndrom or PDD. Thats where we are right now and we are going through A LOT with K regarding all of this and realized that it has been increasing over the past 2 years or so.

She has her evaulation in Kingston, NY since there are only 3 Dev. Ped's here in the area that do the screenings and they are all booking out into mid-year next year. The Dr who actually works in Woodstock, NY was able to pull some strings and find us an appointment in November at her Kingston Location... so I will more than likely update then.

Wish us luck!

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