Ready, Jett, Go!

As I mentioned before, Jett met with a few developmental psychologists last week for some evaluations. Their main objective, I believe, was to screen for autism spectrum disorders. I had sort of ruled out autism in my mind beforehand. He had made so much progress in speech therapy, and I think I may have been floating down that river in Egypt (denial), as I heard someone else put it.

I guess I wasn’t surprised when they said they were confident that he was high-functioning autistic. I don’t think I processed it right away, either. It’s just now starting to hit me a little more. I’ve been an emotional wreck this week.

We also had our first IEP meeting on Monday. I knew that there was a good possibility that they would recommend special education preschool for him, but again, I hadn’t fully prepared myself for that step, and I didn’t really process it right away when they brought it up. We had so much stuff thrown at us all at once. First, there was the diagnosis and all the information given to us by the psychologists. Then, there was the IEP and all the information and paperwork given to us there, and then they told us that he could start school the next day, if we wanted. We didn’t want to delay too much, since the school year had already started, and we wanted to get him started as soon as possible. Of course, I was a little daunted at the thought of sending my first child off to school for the first time, but I didn’t expect such an emotional roller coaster that day.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, really. I figured he would probably be a little stand-offish, and maybe he would act up a little bit, but nothing extreme. Tim picked him up, and I wasn’t there, but apparently it didn’t go well at all.

When we talked to the teacher at the IEP meeting, we told her what a great kid he is, and how everyone comments on how he has such a pleasant disposition (the two developmental psychologists mentioned this), and how he’s so sweet and happy all the time. She knew about his delays, but I still think she had extremely different expectations. DH said she seemed almost exasperated at just how much of his behavior was very uncooperative, stubborn, and she even said she was surprised that he did display so many typical autistic behaviors. It was just a disappointing day overall. I could sense that he was a little stressed about it when we dropped him off, and after hearing about how tough his first day was, I just wanted to hold him and never put him through any of that stress again, even though my head knows that he needs this.

Today was a better day. We decided to only have him stay for part of the day, per the teacher’s suggestion. DH dropped him off, too, since I was afraid that I would have a complete emotional meltdown if he resisted or put up a fight going in. He did much better, so we’re definitely hopeful about the situation. I still cried about 4 times yesterday, and several times today. I’m just hormonal and overwhelmed. I have stacks and stacks of paperwork that I haven’t even had a chance to glance at yet. My mind is just going and going. I barely slept last night and the night before. I’m exhausted and worn out.

I met the sweetest lady when we went for speech therapy today. She was waiting for her son, and she started playing with Jett, and asking me questions. She said he was exactly like her son, and she asked if he was autistic. I said yes, he’s HF autistic, and we started talking. She was so sweet and supportive. She asked me when he was diagnosed, and I told her last Friday. She gave me the biggest hug. I seriously wanted to break down and start crying right there in her arms. I’ve just been feeling so lost the past couple days. Something about talking to her just made me feel like everything was going to be okay. She walked me over to the Family Connections window. They help parents with special needs kids connect with other parents for support, and she volunteers with them. They got my information so they could get me in touch with a parent partner.

Thank you for reading. It’s good to get these things off my chest.

I don’t have time to type much now, but we had our follow up consultation with the developmental psychologists. They’ve diagnosed Jett as high-functioning autistic.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but I know I’m still processing it. I’ll come back to type more when I have time.

We have a very busy several days ahead of us. First off, tomorrow is an evaluation with two developmental psycho-educational specialists. This is basically to determine whether or not autism is a possibility (which I don’t believe it is at this point, but I’m not ruling anything out just yet). As far as I know, these specialists in this department mainly test for and diagnose autism, so I’m not sure if they’re going to be evaluating for any other issues, like ADD or ADHD. Those seem more likely to me right now, although I’m not sure if they diagnose ADD or ADHD at such a young age. I’m sure I’ll find out more tomorrow.

After the initial evaluation, they have the parents come back the next day to discuss the results of the testing and evaluating.

On Monday, we meet with the preschool special education department to discuss something called an IEP, or individualized education plan. Basically, they sit down with the parents and talk about how we can help Jett with his delays through preschool special education and other programs. They’ll recommend a course of action that they believe will help him, based on the testing they’ve done over the past several months. This testing included a natural setting observation, which involved a psychologist coming to our home to evaluate Jett in his natural environment. This evaluation was followed by an arena evaluation, wherein we brought Jett to a school classroom to be evaluated by a school psychologist and a speech-language pathologist. I was also interviewed about Jett several times along the way. All of these tests and evaluations, plus the speech, occupational, and hearing evaluations that were already preformed by other agencies, will be factored into the recommended IEP and will be discussed with us when we go to the meeting.

This IEP could range from additional speech and occupational therapy, to a special education preschool group class, one that would resemble just about any other preschool class. with the exception of a special education focus. The specialists will tell us what they believe to be the best program for him, and we’ll give our input and ideas as well. The meeting is designed to work with the parents to develop an IEP that will work for the whole family. If they recommend a program or therapy that we don’t feel is necessary, we’re not obligated in any way to enroll Jett in that program (although I’m fairly confident that I’ll be willing to enroll him in most programs they recommend).

I’m a little anxious about the IEP meeting, honestly. I’m hoping, for the most part, that they recommend a preschool class for him. I think the interaction with other children would be very beneficial to him, and I bet he’d love it. However, the thought of sending my little boy off to school gets me misty-eyed and, quite frankly, makes me feel old.

I’m also nervous about getting him started in school when there’s a good possibility we’re going to be moving sometime toward next spring/summer (my husband is most likely joining the Navy soon). He’s done so well with all the therapists and specialists that we’ve worked with so far. I hate to lose them. He absolutely loves his speech therapist, and everyone we’ve come in contact with so far has treated us like family. I’ll be really sad to leave them all. I’m also nervous that adjusting to a new environment will cause some regression. I’m keeping my chin up, and I’m thinking good thoughts and praying many prayers that all will go smoothly.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers.