Today is Kaleb's last day of pre-school EVER! I can't believe it he's going to be in kindergarten next year and Ryne will be in first grade HOLY CRAP I can't believe how fast they are growing. Both kids are excited for their new adventures, and of course they aren't sweatin it like mom is.
I have been reserved when it comes to Kaleb starting kindergarten honestly I'm scared. Most of you will say that's normal, just about all parents feel that way when their 5 yr goes to kindergarten. But I never felt this way for Ryne I was so excited for her, and maybe a little nervous but not scared. This last year there have been many concerns from the teachers and therapists that work with Kaleb daily, he is VERY VERY smart, but he has no self control, he doesn't play well with other kids (except Logan), he is an emotional roller coaster. Of course the teachers and therapists can't come out and say what they think might be the issue, they can only let me know their concerns and hope I look into it more and get him the help he needs.I needed to know a direction to go in so I talked to his teacher "unofficially" she brought up ADD, ADHD and Apserger's could be possibilities. When she told me theses possibilities my gut feeling lingered with one, I won't say which one it is at this time, I want to know more first.
I have been fighting with Doctors and insurance this whole year trying to get him into a specialist, but that was proving to be more difficult than I thought it would be. In order to have him see a specialist we need to have a referral. I voiced my concerns with his pediatrician she shrugged it off and told me he was just a typical little boy (after observing him for a total of 5 mins). I should have pushed more, but I didn't cause honestly I didn't want there to be anything wrong, I figured she was the Doctor she would know if there was something "different" about Kaleb. So I put it off till the next IEP meeting when again concerns were voiced, he wasn't doing much better than before, his behaviors had gotten worse.
The next week Kaleb started OT at school and he started to do better, they quickly learned that a lot of his fidgeting and restlessness was do to over-stimulation . I took this information back to the pediatrician, she said it could be Sensory Integration Dysfunction, but said she didn't think it was and wouldn't recommend us to anyone. Again she only observed him for a couple of mins before coming to this decision. I got frustrated and took him to another pediatrician, I was basically told that I was over reacting, (even though I had all the concerns from the teachers in writing) and the concerns were once again dismissed. I was told that he was a "typical 3 yr old" I laughed out loud when he told me this, he looked shocked and a little irritated I looked him in the eye and said "That would be good news if he wasn't five." I got up and walked out.
I called the insurance to see if there was anyway I could get him to a specialist without a referral and was pretty much told no, I had to "go through the proper channels" . My thought at this point was "proper channels SUCK". I couldn't get another opinion cause with the insurance(AHCCCS) he could only change Dr.'s once a year. The teachers and I have pulled together and tried to do our best, but we all know he needs more help.
We have been fortunate this year to get some raises with Dana's work, and we are now finally able to afford to put the kids on his work insurance. We have just had to wait for the state to kick the kids off of AHCCCS, the waiting is finally over. Dane enrolled the kids last week we do have to wait for a couple of weeks before we can use the insurance. A friend of mine suggested a really good pediatrician the specializes with kids with ADD, ADHD and so on, so I will start there and hopefully before he starts school in August we will have some answers and hopefully more help. I know I don't have a PhD but I know my son and something isn't right and I will work my hardest to find out what that is and give him the help he needs, I will never give up on him.
Sorry I know this post is super long and very serious sorry about that. We leave for Idaho in 2 weeks I am soooooo stoked I seriously can't wait!! I need a break, I need my friends, I need my family. The kids are very excited as well, they are looking forward to all the fun things we will do this summer with grandma and grandpa. Well now that I have spent most my morning relieving the stress I was carrying, I have a lot of things to get done before going to Kaleb's "graduation" this afternoon.
We took Nathan to the Melmed Center, they're very good but a very long drive. We've also seen a doctor at Phoenix CHildrens and liked her. He has Sensory Processing Disorder and did almost a year of OT at Melmed, but he scores really well on most tests for Autism/Aspergers, so I can't get any help in that area and there isn't much out there for SPD. So I do what I can at home which is hard when my patience is running low from the emotional rollercoaster that is Nathan. Good luck with everything! If you get an aspergers or autism diagnosis there's so much out there for him, so its not always a bad thing. :)
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