The Big Appointment

Bagel went for his big appointment today to start testing toward a diagnosis. He had a hearing test and then we spent a couple hours with a psychologist. She offered him her toy drawer and he immediately picked out the trains. She gave him tests that involved him putting together puzzles, duplicating stacks of cubes, matching things, naming pictures, and identifying differently shaped and colored beads. He did really well on these tests. Then he had a meltdown right on schedule and required to be nursed. I talked to the psychologist about all the difficulties we're having with him, with his brothers, etc. and how we suspected Asperger's Syndrome. Toward the end he bit me and tried to escape from the room, which was helpful as it gave the psychologist an example of what I have to go through every day. I had been afraid that the novelty of the place would distract him just long enough that she would only see him being a perfectly smart little kid, but we were there for 2 hours and that was plenty of time for him to get overwhelmed so that she could observe his everyday behavior.

They agreed to see Sonshine and Knuckles as well, and they want Bagel to have occupational therapy once a week, which will be nice even though it will mean driving into Salt Lake all the time. They also will be recommending to Early Intervention that we have weekly appointments instead of twice a month, and see Early Intervention's OT, and get me a break. And we'll have an appointment to test Bagel's stool to see if a gluten free diet would help.

We are going to be doing a LOT of driving into town, but I really don't care as long as it'll mean I can get a break. I just can't go on doing nothing but caring for kids with special needs from 6:30 in the morning till 10 at night every single day.