Well we still don't have a diagnosis but we have the appts set!! By Sept 28th we'll know if he's autistic or not.
From Jan to June he attended Kindergarten with his SEA on gradual return. It took until June for him to go full time and it was only for the last 2 weeks but then he was able to attend the final end of year stuff. He did what he could do at his own pace and took breaks as needed. For example on sports day he did 6/15 events.
His teacher put a desk out in the hallway for him when he needed somewhere to do his work quietly as the classroom environment is often too loud and over stimulating. It also provided a quiet area for him to take much needed breaks with the SEA.
We still don't have an IEP in place as they just started on in May so hopefully for grade one they get one going for us right away and we can figure out what specific goals the school would like him to accomplish and we can help at home too.
He's been attending speech therapy once every 2 weeks. More therapy is recommended but unfortunately right now we're paying out of pocket and it's very expensive so until we get some funding that's the best we can do for now.
His SEA was wonderful!! I have nothing but the best to say about her but for grade 1 he'll have a new one assigned to him and that one would hopefully stay with him. At least beginning this year with an SEA will mean he'll most likely spend more time in school and not at the principal's office or at home.
We're looking forward to a successful grade one!!
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Monday, June 1, 2015
Doctor's Appointments
So in continuation from the last post (I'm really really bad lately at doing my blogging between work and my very busy children and keeping up with stuff around the house so I apologize) we had an appointment the first week of school with the paediatrician.
She asked about everything of course and I had been taking notes for a while thankfully because things are hard to remember. She put in a referral for us to Sunny Hill which is where they do assessments. She also gave us some more questionnaires to fill out and made photocopies of all the tests and questionnaires we did through the school.
The following week on a friend's recommendation we had an appointment with a clinical counsellor to maybe get some ideas of what might be going on.
Lucas didn't attend school for the first 2 weeks following Christmas break. The principal wouldn't let him back in without a SEA. It took a lot of pestering from us but we pushed the principal into making it a priority and thankfully she was able to get him a SEA without any sort of formal diagnosis.
Things were beginning to look up a little at least on the school front.
She asked about everything of course and I had been taking notes for a while thankfully because things are hard to remember. She put in a referral for us to Sunny Hill which is where they do assessments. She also gave us some more questionnaires to fill out and made photocopies of all the tests and questionnaires we did through the school.
The following week on a friend's recommendation we had an appointment with a clinical counsellor to maybe get some ideas of what might be going on.
Lucas didn't attend school for the first 2 weeks following Christmas break. The principal wouldn't let him back in without a SEA. It took a lot of pestering from us but we pushed the principal into making it a priority and thankfully she was able to get him a SEA without any sort of formal diagnosis.
Things were beginning to look up a little at least on the school front.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Kindergarten
Ok.... it's been a while so lets continue.....
I was so excited for Kindergarten. Full day didn't scare me at all. The idea of having someone else have my child for 6 hours was exciting to me. I was looking forward to baking cupcakes, playdates and making new friends.
Well, it's been nothing like that for us. Somehow, and we're not sure how, Lucas made it through the first 10 weeks of school. And by "made it through" I mean he was "there" for 6 hours but not necessarily meeting the expectations of the teacher. The parent/teacher meetings and impromptu after school meetings became more and more frequent as his behaviour worsened.
We were realizing he was having "issues" that were more than just "settling in" to the new routine of school. He loved going but it was taking longer and longer to keep him settled. get his work done and follow the routines.
In December it really went downhill for him. He started running away at recess, he started having more frequent and worse meltdowns and he was becoming quite hyper at times. Then we started getting phone calls from the school to come pick him up because they couldn't do anything with him, he's on the ground kicking and screaming, saying stuff that doesn't make sense and/or throwing stuff and trying to run out of the school. It was not fun getting that kind of phone call at work! The last 2 weeks before Christmas break he barely lasted full days. Each day varied whether he went home after 1 hour or 4 hours. Finally the last day of school he actually lasted the whole day but the last 10 minutes he was aggressive towards a little girl he'd been kind of targeting that last week. Apparently he "likes" her and wants to be friends but doesn't know how.
An hour after school we got a phone call from the principal saying he wasn't to come back in January until we could come up with a plan for him. That was a tough pill to swallow. Had things really got that bad??
To be continued......
I was so excited for Kindergarten. Full day didn't scare me at all. The idea of having someone else have my child for 6 hours was exciting to me. I was looking forward to baking cupcakes, playdates and making new friends.
Well, it's been nothing like that for us. Somehow, and we're not sure how, Lucas made it through the first 10 weeks of school. And by "made it through" I mean he was "there" for 6 hours but not necessarily meeting the expectations of the teacher. The parent/teacher meetings and impromptu after school meetings became more and more frequent as his behaviour worsened.
We were realizing he was having "issues" that were more than just "settling in" to the new routine of school. He loved going but it was taking longer and longer to keep him settled. get his work done and follow the routines.
In December it really went downhill for him. He started running away at recess, he started having more frequent and worse meltdowns and he was becoming quite hyper at times. Then we started getting phone calls from the school to come pick him up because they couldn't do anything with him, he's on the ground kicking and screaming, saying stuff that doesn't make sense and/or throwing stuff and trying to run out of the school. It was not fun getting that kind of phone call at work! The last 2 weeks before Christmas break he barely lasted full days. Each day varied whether he went home after 1 hour or 4 hours. Finally the last day of school he actually lasted the whole day but the last 10 minutes he was aggressive towards a little girl he'd been kind of targeting that last week. Apparently he "likes" her and wants to be friends but doesn't know how.
An hour after school we got a phone call from the principal saying he wasn't to come back in January until we could come up with a plan for him. That was a tough pill to swallow. Had things really got that bad??
To be continued......
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
The First Appointment
We first saw the paediatrician in May 2014. She took a full history and observed him and talked to him. His stimming (or tics or self stimulation or "movements without a purpose") didn't seem worrisome to her at all as it wasn't to me at the time either. To her he seemed fine socially and in every other way and at the time his stimming wasn't interfering with life.
She said she could send him for full assessment if I wanted (of course I'm kicking myself now) but I didn't feel it was necessary putting him through all that. So we were told to come back in 6 months at which point he'd be in Kindergarten then she could see how he was doing.
One thing she did help us with was to get him on a schedule for doing #2 in the toilet. He wouldn't listen to me but he listened to her so that was great and still works today.
She said she could send him for full assessment if I wanted (of course I'm kicking myself now) but I didn't feel it was necessary putting him through all that. So we were told to come back in 6 months at which point he'd be in Kindergarten then she could see how he was doing.
One thing she did help us with was to get him on a schedule for doing #2 in the toilet. He wouldn't listen to me but he listened to her so that was great and still works today.
Monday, January 19, 2015
From The Beginning
Most doctors, counsellors and whomever else we've spoken to along the way all want me to start at the beginning so it just makes sense I will start there but I will skip ahead and leave out the non-essential stuff.
Lucas was born in Oct 2009 about 9 days late after a healthy pregnancy. His entrance was a little rough by all birthing standards but he was here and that was all that mattered. He was a super, laid-back easy baby. Slept great, ate well and gained weight super quick!
He loved to jump! Boy did he love to jump so before he could even walk he broke the cover on his crib mattress from all the jumping. I didn't think much of it, just order more covers and keep an extra on hand.
When he was about 18 months or so (hard to pinpoint looking back) he started flapping his hands like he was really excited or something. Never thought much about that either but it changed into stiffening his arms. squeezing stuff, holding his breath and jumping on the spot. This stuff still didn't seem to far off from other 2 and 3 year olds. Sure it looked different but it didn't interfere with other aspects of his daily life so I still didn't think much of it.
Potty training was hard. Somehow we got him day trained and into a preschool by 3.5 years old. Actually potty training was pure hell and I think I've blocked most of that out! To this day he's on a schedule for #2's. Anyway, I can't remember how many months went by before the preschool teacher asked us if he had been assessed for his "strange movements" and we said no then I made an appointment with a paediatrician shortly after.
Lucas was born in Oct 2009 about 9 days late after a healthy pregnancy. His entrance was a little rough by all birthing standards but he was here and that was all that mattered. He was a super, laid-back easy baby. Slept great, ate well and gained weight super quick!
He loved to jump! Boy did he love to jump so before he could even walk he broke the cover on his crib mattress from all the jumping. I didn't think much of it, just order more covers and keep an extra on hand.
When he was about 18 months or so (hard to pinpoint looking back) he started flapping his hands like he was really excited or something. Never thought much about that either but it changed into stiffening his arms. squeezing stuff, holding his breath and jumping on the spot. This stuff still didn't seem to far off from other 2 and 3 year olds. Sure it looked different but it didn't interfere with other aspects of his daily life so I still didn't think much of it.
Potty training was hard. Somehow we got him day trained and into a preschool by 3.5 years old. Actually potty training was pure hell and I think I've blocked most of that out! To this day he's on a schedule for #2's. Anyway, I can't remember how many months went by before the preschool teacher asked us if he had been assessed for his "strange movements" and we said no then I made an appointment with a paediatrician shortly after.
Our Life As We've Known It Has Changed
I think it's hard on any mom to find out that something is "not right" with one of their children. When you're pregnant you think of all the things you're going to do with that baby; the sports they might play, the birthday parties, the endless trips to the park, the vacations.
No one prepares you for the day you come to the realization that your child won't be able to do one of the activities you thought they would, doesn't play well with others or doesn't act like a "normal" child of that age.
With Lucas this day came in Kindergarten or more specifically about 10 weeks into Kindergarten.
No one prepares you for the day you come to the realization that your child won't be able to do one of the activities you thought they would, doesn't play well with others or doesn't act like a "normal" child of that age.
With Lucas this day came in Kindergarten or more specifically about 10 weeks into Kindergarten.
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