Well, some of you know what a hard time Rece has given us at times. It has gotten to a point where we thought we should have him evaluated by our county's 0-3 program. So we started that process a few weeks ago and yesterday was the evaluation. It took place in our home so he was being pretty typical which was good. There were two women here, one did the gross motor, social/emotional and self help areas. She pretty much asked me questions about what he can/will do or not. The other woman was evaluating his speech, fine motor and cognitive areas. She was just playing and interacting with Rece for her part. The results of their evaluations were even a little worse than I expected. He has a delay in every area except social/emotional, in that he was at a 33 month level. He is 31 months right now. In the fine motor, speech and cognitive she said there were slight delays, but I didn't get numbers. In gross motor he was at a 21 month level and for self help he is at an 18 month level. They said that these evaluations were pretty broad and that they didn't cover everything but they give an estimate. On top of this I gave them a list of issues that I see with him on a pretty regular basis. This is the list I gave them:
no reaction to almost all loud noises and the reactions he does have a pretty severe, he is very loud, squeals to where it hurst others' ears, babbles still, hits other kids non-aggressively, never stops moving, runs into things, loves spinning and being tossed, kicks to wall in bed, prefers music/Tv very loud, eats paper, crayon, chalk, etc., tears things, stuffs his mouth too full, throws food, bangs cup on table, spits milk, bothered by 1 hair on hand, hates having most food on hand-yet won't use silverware, won't sit/stand in sandbox, afraid of climbing, late milestones (walking at 18 months, first word at 12 months), touches everything in a room, loves opening/closing doors, pinches nipple for comfort, hard time transitioning from wake to sleep and vice versa, chews on crib, wants us to repeat him, eats a lot for his age, always hungry, enjoys his face/tongue being washed.
I know that is long but that is Rece. So they will take all of that into consideration and I should be getting a phone call next week sometime to set up another appointment with our service coordinator to decide where we should go from here. It could be a preschool readiness program, a playgroup, Occupational therapy, etc. or all of the above. We have been thinking for a little while that it is a Sensory Issue like Sensory Integration Disorder and both the evaluators aggreed that a lot of the problems seem to stem from sensory problems. And if we were questioning that before I am pretty set on that after our lunch today. We went to a buffet for lunch today and I got him some jello. He has never eaten jello before because it feels funny, but today he started squishing it in his hands. I could tell he didn't like the feeling based on his face but he kept doing it but then he started gagging just from the feel of it. He almost threw up. I felt so bad. I took it all away, he almost started crying because he just hated that feel on his hand. So no jello for him until he understands all of this and is ready to try again.
So I will be happy to get him started in whatever he needs to help him get through all of this. And then in January, when he turns 3, he will most likely start preschool. That will be very bittersweet. I know that this is what will be best for him, but I am going to be so sad sending my baby to preschool. It will also be nice for Carmine because that will give me some one on one time with him, but still very bittersweet.
This has not been hard for me to deal with until we actually got the results of the evaluation. And it still isn't really hard, just a different feeling then I have had before. It actually gives me some relief. It makes me think I do know my son and it makes me feel better that I am not crazy and just unable to handle him. But as a mommy, I can't help but wonder what I could have done differently. Don't worry I know it isn't my fault but I think every parent wonders this when anything happens, no matter how big or small. And I find myself doing things a little differently with Carmine in some aspects, especially food. I will be happy once this all starts rolling, well it has already, but I will be happy when progress starts showing. Now that I have gotten this out there, I will make sure to keep everyone updated about what we are doing with him.
Sorry for the rambling, but I have been having these thought for a while and just not quite ready to share.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Evaluation
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4 comments:
Oh my goodness, Tonia, I wish we lived closer together because we seem to have something in common with our sons. I too have been advised to look into our county's 0-3 program, so thanks for the heads-up on that. I also took your advice about a couple of books you told me about in a comment on my blog - 1-2-3 Magic and I'm in the middle of Parenting the Strong-Willed Child right now. Raising Your Spirited Child is next on my long list of books to read.
It's so hard - this parenting thing. And being a SAHM makes it worse because it's like, hey, this is your JOB and you must suck at it or why else would your child be acting this way? Anyway, we have Aaron in Speech Therapy now, so I'm hoping that will help, then I think we're going to look in the 0-3 program too. I just would really like to be able to go out in public with my kid, you know?
Good luck to you with Rece and Carmine.
This is Maureen from connorandrew.blogspot.com, btw. I forgot my blogger password, so I'm commenting anonymously for now. You should read "The Out-of-Sync Child". It's a book about Sensory Integration Disorder/Dysfunction, whatever they are calling it these days. I have read a little of it and it sounds like some of the things you describe about Rece. My cousin's little boy has it as well as alot of the kids who are in therapy at the pediatric therapy office where I work. I think it's pretty common. Most people have it in some form or another. I know Connor has a few things that could be labeled SI, as do I. It's a pretty broad spectrum. However, I wouldn't stress too much (although as the mom you will cause that's what we do). With therapy and early intervention I bet you will see alot of progress in Rece.
Make sure you look into Music Therapy services. I can't get you more info. on this if you need it. We work with this stuff a LOT through music.
You are a really good mom to be so in tune with your sons needs.
I feel the same about the preschool thing too. I'm starting Emily in a 2 year old program this fall. It's only one morning a week and I'll attend with her, but it's only the beginning of school and it makes me sad.
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