How do you decide to push for more diagnosis? That is the question I face tonight. My 7 year old has been diagnosed with SPD ( 2 1/2 years ago) and has had OT and is doing way better than I ever thought he would. He attends a parochial school because we want him to have a Christian Education and it’s a smaller K-8 school, which is getting harder to find. He was evaluated at age 4 by the local public schools where we were basically told “we can’t help you”. Yes, that is what we were told.
He has a motor delay but not severe enough to get him an IEP. So with the help of some great friends we got him into private therapy which we now pay out of pocket for. I used to teach at the school my son attends and have an “in” with all of the teachers, or I like to think I do. His birthday was 6 weeks before the cut-off and is now the second oldest in his class. He is an awesome reader, and catches onto math like no ones business. I have worked with him at great length on social cues and what is and is not acceptable as he doesn’t seem to learn this through osmosis. However, he does great with these skills once they are taught.
This post really has nothing to do with his school. It has everything to do with him still being odd; different; and whatever other word you want to use. He is socially immature for his age, but does okay, for now….the thought of him being picked on or bullied scares me. It’s about him STILL having toileting issues…tonight he pooped in his underwear, second time since Friday. He won’t poop away from home, and we were visiting family this weekend. We use fiber powder and Miralax to keep him going on a regular basis.
And again this post isn’t only about our bathroom issues. This post is about when do you decide to peruse another diagnosis? When do you realize that this isn’t all of the pieces to this puzzle? I have a good friend who is a pediatric nurse practitioner who worked for a child psych doctor a few years ago. And she and I have discussed it and we are both pretty sure he is actually a high functioning autistic. My dilemma is in having the diagnosis there, forever…so to speak…. What does this mean for him in college or getting a job? I am not a big fan of our pediatrician, but with medicaid I am not sure I would encounter a different mindset many other places. They are always amazed at how healthy my kids are; yes, I am college educated and with an Early Childhood degree, I know to feed them good food and make them wash their hands.
Do I go through him? Do I try the local school again? What are they actually going to do for him? He does well in the school he is in, my husband and I really aren’t looking to change that.
I just get this feeling that SPD is only the tip of this iceberg….and just when we thought we had it all mapped out, we are beginning to discover there is a lot more beneath the water. Advice is totally welcome here!
