DisMomAmy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2007
- Messages
- 7,994
So today was Zachary's evaluation in Boston. Once we finally got into the neurologist's office... (she was running 45 minutes late for our 9:15 appointment). Luckily we had met her last week for Alex's 6 month follow up. The previous doctor who followed Alex left last year. We were very lucky to get in with this doctor because she is one of the director's of the clinic we go to. We were also very lucky that she agreed to see Zachary - they aren't accepting new patients.
We finally got in to see her and had a very nice visit - she took a through history, in addition to all of the paperwork I had filled out ahead of time. Of course we wanted to highlight all of our concerns and the red flags that we had seen, along with those seen by the therapists who have been working with Zach (he participates in a social group run by a speech language pathologist and sees a social worker for play therapy). The only problem with pointing out all of his "issues" is that we were afraid the doctor would jump to the quick conclusion that Zachary has autism or Asperger's syndrome. Fortunately, she was very conservative and made mention of that fact that many siblings of kids on the autism spectrum have issues themselves - some of their own issues and some learned issues - learned behaviors they have picked up from their siblings.
So what did she think... she recognized the issues that Zachary is currently dealing with, requested a few additional evaluations - occupational therapy and neuropsychological testing (to find out about how he learns and if he has any learning disabilities). She wants us to continue sending him to the social group and come back in 6 months with the results of the testing. She said he very well could be on the autism spectrum, specifically Asperger's Syndrome, or maybe he isn't. She was reluctant to give a diagnosis beyond "developmental delay" at his age without any of the other evaluations. On the paperwork she noted, "Developmental Delay - social pragmatic features of Asperger Syndrome".
I am very happy with the outcome of the visit. The doctor recognized our concerns and validated that their may be a problem (which is helpful for dealing with the schools) but wasn't quick to throw a label on him. Now I feel like if/when she does have a diagnosis for Zach, it will be an accurate diagnosis that wasn't rushed.
I think I will finally sleep well tonight!!
We finally got in to see her and had a very nice visit - she took a through history, in addition to all of the paperwork I had filled out ahead of time. Of course we wanted to highlight all of our concerns and the red flags that we had seen, along with those seen by the therapists who have been working with Zach (he participates in a social group run by a speech language pathologist and sees a social worker for play therapy). The only problem with pointing out all of his "issues" is that we were afraid the doctor would jump to the quick conclusion that Zachary has autism or Asperger's syndrome. Fortunately, she was very conservative and made mention of that fact that many siblings of kids on the autism spectrum have issues themselves - some of their own issues and some learned issues - learned behaviors they have picked up from their siblings.
So what did she think... she recognized the issues that Zachary is currently dealing with, requested a few additional evaluations - occupational therapy and neuropsychological testing (to find out about how he learns and if he has any learning disabilities). She wants us to continue sending him to the social group and come back in 6 months with the results of the testing. She said he very well could be on the autism spectrum, specifically Asperger's Syndrome, or maybe he isn't. She was reluctant to give a diagnosis beyond "developmental delay" at his age without any of the other evaluations. On the paperwork she noted, "Developmental Delay - social pragmatic features of Asperger Syndrome".
I am very happy with the outcome of the visit. The doctor recognized our concerns and validated that their may be a problem (which is helpful for dealing with the schools) but wasn't quick to throw a label on him. Now I feel like if/when she does have a diagnosis for Zach, it will be an accurate diagnosis that wasn't rushed.
I think I will finally sleep well tonight!!
He crossed off "Second" and wanted me to write "First" on it. I finally caved in and wrote "First 8 year old" 
(he was definitely one of the few 8 year olds there - you have to be 8 to compete in Special Olympics and most of the kids were much older.)
I'm not sure!
Not sure of the park hours when you are going but you might have trouble fitting it all in. We always alternate between Lights Motors Action and the Indiana Jones Stunt show every other trip because they both are fairly long. Of course if you are going on a non-Fantasmic day hopefully you will be able to get so much more done! I was bummed the Backlot Tour was closed when we were there in January. And we missed the Great Movie Ride. Oh well, more to look forward to next time! 
