We had a really nice day today. My friend Hayley so kindly watched Selah and Benjamin so that Josh and I could take Jude to his follow up appt. for his more detailed Aspergers testing. It was a great appointment and we just love the doctor Jude sees! She's really good at what she does and so easy to talk to.
Her detailed evaluation involved a bunch of little tests, most of them done at the kid table in the corner of her office, and our appt. lasted about 2 hours long. She had Jude sit with her and do things like put together a puzzle while talking to him and interacting with him, read a book and then have him finish telling the story based on pictures. She had him pretend he was having a birthday party for a baby on the floor and serve everyone cake, she laid large picture cards on the table and had him tell the story of what was happening and then asked him to walk over and tell me the story again without looking, and she laid out some miniature people/chairs/soccer ball etc. and asked him to "play with her." It was all really neat to watch, and I always love hearing Jude talk - fun to know what's going on in that cute little head of his. He had me laughing a lot with the things he'd say! I sure love that boy! What a sweet spirit he has!! He's maturing so well right now and it's a joy to see!
During the appt. Jude only made eye contact with the doctor a couple times. She tried a lot of tricks to try to get him to look at her and have a conversation, and by the end of the appt. he looked at her a little and had a little back and forth conversation with her. She noted that when he's talking or listening his eyes are constantly moving as if he's taking in everything around him all the time. And when he mumbles mid-sentence sometimes, it's as if he's thinking about other things around him while he's talking so he sort of just mumbles/talks to himself while speaking, but doesn't realize who he's speaking to may not be able to hear/understand. He did really well with a lot of the "playing interactions" with her. So much so that she decided to change her diagnosis! She doesn't feel 100% comfortable keeping the Aspergers diagnosis at this time, but she said that she would like to do more testing again beginning of summer. She basically said that Jude is just kind of quirky and has enough little things that would lead one to suspect he may have Aspergers, but not quite enough to conclude he's on the spectrum. She believes the sensory therapy that we're starting tomorrow will be really good for him, as well as speech therapy and a social skills class we're going to look into.
We talked about all the sorts of things that could best benefit Jude, and we feel good about the plan we have in place moving forward. We'll start working on these few things before his next appt. And we all agreed that Jude is one sweet boy, who is a lot of fun to talk to!
I feel so blessed to be this boy's mama! I couldn't be more proud of him, or love him more!!! xoxo
3 comments:
Bethany, my oldest son would probably have received the same diagnosis. He also was gluten intolerant and allergic to many things. I think him growing up on the mission field in Nicaragua was an advantage (we were homeschooling too) as so many of the quirks were fine within our family. Everything was VERY late with him - potty training, reading, growing, etc. He is now 6'1", probably the smartest one out of all six of the kids, very athletic, etc. He is still quirky - when he reads he is constantly turning the pages, the least social of all our kids, etc. but a wonderful young man. I am excited for Jude's future and thankful that you have a wise doctor who isn't putting Jude into a box. BLESSINGS!
thanks for posting about jude bethany. he really does seem like a special spirit. it's really interesting to read about how he's progressing and how his little mind works. you are a special mama and you and jude are lucky to have each other! love you!
Bethany, I can relate to some of your struggles as well with my son, Cade. I know that all your extra work with Jude will pay off in so many ways and both you and he will reap the benefits. Continue to believe in him as I know you do and trust your instincts. I agree that you are both lucky to have each other :)
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