Life Goes On
Happy February!
It's been about 4 months since I wrote last, and let me tell you, things have changed a little since October.
Let me preface this by saying we haven't gotten a formal diagnosis yet, but hope to soon. That said... buckle up. This is a long one.
At the time of my last post, we were trying to get Bailey into Head Start. That ultimately fell through and I'm awfully glad it did. Here's why...
Sometime during late October, I got a call from the Apple Valley Early Education Center about enrolling Bailey there - it's basically a preschool under the Apple Valley School District that caters to students with special needs, including kids with speech and language delays, autism and other disorders. As we were having Bailey assessed before entering the program, my primary concern was getting Bailey the proper help for her communication issues... all the while I was pretty much ignoring the signs of autism that were beginning to make themselves apparent to her teachers at the day care. Sherry, the day care director, had said the word "autism" and I about broke down right there in the lobby. She said it in a very caring kind of way, sort of like "There are some signs that we're seeing, but she is definitely high functioning if she is at all." Still, those aren't words that a parent wants to hear. I was in denial and didn't want to accept that Bailey could possibly be autistic. I did a little online research on autism but I brushed off the signs, thinking that Bailey just had her own unique personality and things would work themselves out as she got older.
Anyway... Bailey enrolled in the 1st Class program at AVEEC right after Thanksgiving - it's a little hard to explain what 1st Class is, but this is what they told me: it's kind of a "waiting area" for kids who are in the process of being assessed or are there for speech therapy. It took Bailey about a month or so to adjust to her new surroundings and come out of her shell. In fact, her teachers told me that she had said nothing at all for the first three weeks or so of class - I would tell them that she knows her colors, letters, numbers and animals, but I'm not sure they believed me! Then, she finally got to the point where she was comfortable enough to start talking and she's been doing well ever since. It's like she was faking them out...
During this time (December thru January), I was also in touch with the school psychologist who was assessing Bailey for signs of autism, so that possibility was becoming more real to me over time but I was still hoping that she (the psychologist) was wrong. The assessment was very thorough - it included several hours with Bailey to see how much she knew and also to see how she interacted with someone one on one. I was given questionnaires to fill out, as was Bailey's day care teacher. Another part of the assessment included observing Bailey in class and also at the day care to see how she interacted and communicated with other children and adults. All in all, each piece of information that the psychologist received played an important part in figuring out what was going on.
It took a few weeks for everything to come together, but we had our final meeting with everyone (Bailey's 1st Class teacher, her speech therapist, another teacher, the psychologist, and even the school principal) this past Thursday, the 9th. The meeting lasted about an hour and the psychologist went over her report which was about 20 pages long (!!). That report had a lot of information in it, and ultimately it confirmed our suspicions - Bailey is showing signs of autism. The signs are subtle, but they're definitely there. Luckily, her intelligence is about average for her age, so we don't have to worry about an intellectual disability - we always knew she was smart, but it's reassuring to hear someone else say it!
So, here's what happens next: Bailey will soon be placed in a class with other mild to moderate autistic preschoolers, and she'll also be receiving speech therapy while she's there. The class will be geared towards helping kids on the spectrum - they'll focus on academics, social skills, communication, and whatever else they may struggle with. The autism program is very intensive - it meets five hours a day, five days a week so I have high hopes that she'll make some long strides in the coming year. When she starts kindergarten in 2018, she'll go on to a regular elementary school and we'll see how much help she needs at that point.
Even though Bailey is likely on the autism spectrum, my goal for her is that she will learn how to interact and communicate well enough to "blend in" with the world around her, so much so that the layperson won't even be able to tell that something is "off". All I want is for her to lead an enriching and "normal" life just like anyone else... I'm trying hard not to tear up while writing this, because, believe me, this is a hard pill to swallow. No one wants to hear that kind of news. Like I said, I was totally in denial before, but things are clearer now and she's still the same old Bailey that she was before - we just have a better understanding of why she is the way she is.
Right now, the last piece of the puzzle is getting her formally assessed by a children's hospital. I hope to set that up this week, in fact. After that, we'll be good. Who knows, we might not even need to get her assessed again, but this is more for my peace of mind. I just want that definite "yes" or "no".
So, in conclusion, yes, this is probably happening. No, it's not the end of the world and life goes on.
At the time of my last post, we were trying to get Bailey into Head Start. That ultimately fell through and I'm awfully glad it did. Here's why...
Sometime during late October, I got a call from the Apple Valley Early Education Center about enrolling Bailey there - it's basically a preschool under the Apple Valley School District that caters to students with special needs, including kids with speech and language delays, autism and other disorders. As we were having Bailey assessed before entering the program, my primary concern was getting Bailey the proper help for her communication issues... all the while I was pretty much ignoring the signs of autism that were beginning to make themselves apparent to her teachers at the day care. Sherry, the day care director, had said the word "autism" and I about broke down right there in the lobby. She said it in a very caring kind of way, sort of like "There are some signs that we're seeing, but she is definitely high functioning if she is at all." Still, those aren't words that a parent wants to hear. I was in denial and didn't want to accept that Bailey could possibly be autistic. I did a little online research on autism but I brushed off the signs, thinking that Bailey just had her own unique personality and things would work themselves out as she got older.
Anyway... Bailey enrolled in the 1st Class program at AVEEC right after Thanksgiving - it's a little hard to explain what 1st Class is, but this is what they told me: it's kind of a "waiting area" for kids who are in the process of being assessed or are there for speech therapy. It took Bailey about a month or so to adjust to her new surroundings and come out of her shell. In fact, her teachers told me that she had said nothing at all for the first three weeks or so of class - I would tell them that she knows her colors, letters, numbers and animals, but I'm not sure they believed me! Then, she finally got to the point where she was comfortable enough to start talking and she's been doing well ever since. It's like she was faking them out...
During this time (December thru January), I was also in touch with the school psychologist who was assessing Bailey for signs of autism, so that possibility was becoming more real to me over time but I was still hoping that she (the psychologist) was wrong. The assessment was very thorough - it included several hours with Bailey to see how much she knew and also to see how she interacted with someone one on one. I was given questionnaires to fill out, as was Bailey's day care teacher. Another part of the assessment included observing Bailey in class and also at the day care to see how she interacted and communicated with other children and adults. All in all, each piece of information that the psychologist received played an important part in figuring out what was going on.
It took a few weeks for everything to come together, but we had our final meeting with everyone (Bailey's 1st Class teacher, her speech therapist, another teacher, the psychologist, and even the school principal) this past Thursday, the 9th. The meeting lasted about an hour and the psychologist went over her report which was about 20 pages long (!!). That report had a lot of information in it, and ultimately it confirmed our suspicions - Bailey is showing signs of autism. The signs are subtle, but they're definitely there. Luckily, her intelligence is about average for her age, so we don't have to worry about an intellectual disability - we always knew she was smart, but it's reassuring to hear someone else say it!
So, here's what happens next: Bailey will soon be placed in a class with other mild to moderate autistic preschoolers, and she'll also be receiving speech therapy while she's there. The class will be geared towards helping kids on the spectrum - they'll focus on academics, social skills, communication, and whatever else they may struggle with. The autism program is very intensive - it meets five hours a day, five days a week so I have high hopes that she'll make some long strides in the coming year. When she starts kindergarten in 2018, she'll go on to a regular elementary school and we'll see how much help she needs at that point.
Even though Bailey is likely on the autism spectrum, my goal for her is that she will learn how to interact and communicate well enough to "blend in" with the world around her, so much so that the layperson won't even be able to tell that something is "off". All I want is for her to lead an enriching and "normal" life just like anyone else... I'm trying hard not to tear up while writing this, because, believe me, this is a hard pill to swallow. No one wants to hear that kind of news. Like I said, I was totally in denial before, but things are clearer now and she's still the same old Bailey that she was before - we just have a better understanding of why she is the way she is.
Right now, the last piece of the puzzle is getting her formally assessed by a children's hospital. I hope to set that up this week, in fact. After that, we'll be good. Who knows, we might not even need to get her assessed again, but this is more for my peace of mind. I just want that definite "yes" or "no".
So, in conclusion, yes, this is probably happening. No, it's not the end of the world and life goes on.
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