Tag Archive for autism evaluation

Evaluation by the Developmental Pediatrician: Not on the Spectrum…For Now

April 20, 2012 Evaluations No comments

Buki having fun with a photo app

Back in February, we went to a developmental pediatrician to have Buki evaluated for Asperger’s. That’s what the school told us was going on, so we decided to do an official eval.

I wasn’t super impressed with the pediatrician, but she came highly recommended. She did a test with a book and then played with Buki. I know she has to stay a little removed to see what his reactions would be, but the play session was painful to watch because of her, not my son. She made no attempt to make him feel comfortable, and as a result, he just stared at her when she attempted to engage him. I remember thinking that it seems like she’s never spent any time around kids, which can’t be true, as she does this for a living.

At the end of the assessment, she told us that her initial feeling is that Buki is not on the spectrum, but she wanted to do a more thorough evaluation with the help of a psychologist. So we made an appointment to come back.

Our second appointment was more of the same. More testing, more awkward playing. This time a psychologist did a test. I liked her even less than I liked the pediatrician. She made no attempt to make my son feel comfortable. She wasn’t all that friendly. And then after the test was over she tells us that our son has anxiety. Well … that may be true, but part of it was her demeanor toward him.

After everything was over, they told us that he is not on the spectrum. They see several behaviors and symptoms of Asperger’s, but not enough to call it Asperger’s. He’s close to the line, but apparently not on the spectrum. Though it’s a close enough call that they want to see him again in six months.

I should have been happy about it, but I wasn’t. I thought they were wrong. They don’t spend time with him day in and day out. I thought he had Asperger’s and that they were wrong.

Now? I just don’t know. He may or may not be on the spectrum, and we may not have a definitive answer for several years. But the important thing is to treat the symptoms and get him help, and the pediatrician agreed. We now have prescriptions for occupational therapy and speech therapy. Choosing a therapist is another story, but at least we’re moving forward.

Nervous about the Evaluation Results

March 20, 2011 Autism 6 comments

Edit: Eval results are in. I’ll write a post about it shortly, but the bottom line is, they say he doesn’t qualify. People have been kind enough to give me helpful thoughts in the comments. If you have something to add, please do!

Buki ages out of the early intervention program in about six months, so in February the school system evaluated him to start the process for his transition into the school system if he still needs services. Tomorrow we discuss the results with them.

I am so nervous. We’ve waited a whole month to get these results, and as I said before, I was kind of expecting that they would say everything is fine and he doesn’t qualify for services. But our therapist says she thinks he still needs services.

So we’ve never been to this kind of meeting before. I don’t know what to expect at all. Will they tell us if he has autism or not? Will we be overwhelmed with what they say? I vascilate  between hoping they give us some concrete information to being offended that they think they can pidgeon-hole my son just by meeting with him for two hours.

But mostly I’m just nervous. Last summer, when Buki turned two, I obsessively read everything I could on the Internet about autism. I cried for days, thinking I caused it or did something wrong to make it happen. But I couldn’t fully process my feelings because we’re in limbo not knowing for sure what is going on with him.

Tomorrow we’ll learn something. I’m not sure what it will be, but I hope it will be helpful.