I took Patrick to London this week to speak to a specialist about the possibility of autism or any other spectrum disorders. It was a long trip for both of us (3 hours one way) and the appt. itself was an 1.5 hours.
Now I want to get one thing straight though. When we started trying to get Patrick into a specialist, it was well over a year ago and he was displaying a lot more repetitive behaviours that had us worried. But over the past year, Patrick has come so far with the help of everyone around him. So far in fact that Deb and I had debated on cancelling the appointment. We decided though to carry through with it just to reaffirm our own suspicions and try to get an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for at school. Patrick may have some problems relating to kids in a social situation but he is VERY smart for his age and we worry about him getting bored in school.
When we arrived at the centre and were waiting in a waiting room, Patrick met and played with a little boy who had cerebral palsy (a mild form). Patrick was a bit hesistant at first but without any prompting, he introduced himself and started to play with the little boy. I seriously started questioning my decision to not cancel the appointment at that point again.
When the doctor took us back to the office, he struck up a conversation with Patrick right away and I just sat in the corner and watched. After some time had passed, the doctor started asking me a load of questions too and going over the various reports I had brought. By the end of the appointment, the doctor really couldn't label Patrick with anything. He said he could pick Patrick out in a group setting from the info we gave him, but speaking to him one on one... he just thought Patrick was a very bright little boy that may be gifted (there are formal tests to determine this but we'll wait a couple years for that).
The doctor didn't outright say he does NOT have autism or ADHD or a etc, but from everything he's seen, he couldn't in good concious put some sort of label on him.
This is exactly what Deb and I had thought AND what we were hoping for. The only downside is without some sort of label, it is very unlikely we will be able to get an IEP for our little man because our school board is stupid and requires it. So much for helping every child! We will continue to do our best to get him one though and help him at home develope his talents.
We are so proud of all our kids (except when they are misbehaving!). Some might question me putting this online for my kids to see one day but all our kids are special and to deny who they are and were is silly.
