Hi, my name is Becky and I have an obsessive personality.... So saying things like I think your kid is more then just quirky and you should get him checked out, well that sends me into a non-stop thinking, speculating, evaluating every thing the child does kinda spiral. And to top it off the counselor told me to GOOGLE! Good Lord, have you met me- that is the worst possible thing to say to me, okay well " I think your kid is on the spectrum" was worse but ya know...
So now I've googled and read a bunch of the same info with slight differences. Why can't there just be a checklist? A "if your kids does this and this and this your in otherwise nope." No, it can't be that easy, and yes, I am thankful for the could be lableing of my child, that the evaulation is much more in depth but I want to know and I want to know NOW. I have my gut feelings and things I have thought but didn't want anyone else to think as well. I just want a professional in this field to tell me one way or the other.
Today the Dr asks questions like, "what do you think about _________?" Well now I don't know! Maybe what I thought was just a little quirk my kid has is what other people see as this blatantly obvious sign that something is different about him. ( Typing that sentence was difficult- how to word it? I don't want to say wrong with him or abnormal, etc...if he is on the spectrum it won't make him any different to us, definitely not flawed in anyway. Hopefully, it will just help us learn how to deal with these few behaviors that are starting to negatively impact our lives.)
So testing with a Neurologist is scheduled for a month from today. We are told to block out the whole afternoon for it. We have blood work to get done prior to to check for any deficiencies etc... Right now we don't really know what we are looking for- even though Aspergers and Autism were the main words thrown out there to quote the counselor " we are just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks."
I'm hoping to hear "you just have a quirky kid." But, I'd also like some useful ways to make things better for him. As much as his bug phobia and sensory integration issues bother us, I am certain it is way worse for him and I feel bad that I am so annoyed by it- even more now that all of this info has been thrown at me ( even though it is really a lack of info at the moment).
I had told my friends at the beginning of the summer that we had a lot of stuff to work on with Wyatt over the summer- not school stuff- he is great on that- just behavior stuff. At the time I had no idea it would be getting this involved but this must be the right timing.
Here is to a summer of discovery and hopefully the beginning of understanding this quirky little genius child, Wyatt.
Praying for you and your family. No matter what the test outcomes may be. We all know how much you love each of your children. The benefit like you said to knowing if there was a "label" would be so that you could try some of the proven methods to get through some of the quirks. I have a couple friends who's children are "on the spectrum" and yes they are each different, but that does not stop anyone from loving them just as much. I hope you find the answers you are looking for.
ReplyDeleteHi! We're here for you guys no matter what. We love you, Brad and the kids. Let us know what you need.
ReplyDeleteOur kids are awesome, Becky. I had people say that something was "wrong" with Avery and I needed to get her tested as well...but so far I feel she's functioning ok without a diagnosis. I love her quirks, and Wyatt's quirks are endearing, IMO. I know the sensory things can be a huge challenge on a daily basis, when simple tasks can be so frustrating. I hope you get the answers you need, or more than that - the reassurance that he is Wyatt's own brand of "normal."
ReplyDeleteAs a mother of a child who is on the spectrum I want to first give you a HUGE (((HUG))) It is NOT an easy thing to hear.....that your child might not be "normal"...whatever that is....and might be on the spectrum......as broad as that is. Secondly,I want to applaud you for REALLY wanting to help Wyatt. You would be surprised at how many parents do not look in to helping their kids with these quirky things. When you do find all of the options out there it is not going to be easy to sort through them to find out which ones are right for Wyatt, but you will do it because you love him. And when you do find the things that "click" for him it will make all the rough patches worth it. I can't promise that sorting through these things and getting answers, both good and bad, will be easy......but I can promise that you won't be alone. I may just be your cyber friend, but I'll be here every step of the way if you need me. Here's to starting a new journey in search of answers....whatever they may be...... :-)
ReplyDelete