Away we go

I guess it's safe to say we're up and running with B's ABA. It has been a busy week to say the least. We had an intake appointment on Tuesday morning (complete with paperwork that rivals buying a house) and then have had daily assessments the rest of the week.

So far so good. This has definitely been a case of prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I am pleasantly surprised. I kind of thought he would spend the bulk of his time crying. Instead, I saw laughter, giddiness and glee (with some occasional tears of course). He seemed to THRIVE on the attention of these very skilled ladies. I also expected to have a hard time watching the assessments conducted. This was very different this time around too. I already know what B can and can't do all too well. Months of evaluations will do that. So it didn't bother me to see them asking him to label something or throw a ball (for example) and having him totally ignore it. I now see it as an opportunity for growth rather than a weakness.

The first time he was evaluated was heartbreaking. I didn't realize just how far behind he was. Think about it - you don't really sit around and analyze your kids skills when they are seemingly on track. I STILL couldn't tell you nearly as much about what my firstborn can and can't do as I can about B... he hasn't been under the microscope.  The last time around was also very confusing because it was hard to know how much he "could" do vs. how much he "would" do. I found myself testing him all the time looking for autism... if he did X, then he wasn't on the spectrum... oh but wait - he just did Z - maybe he is. In a 2 year old, there is a wide range of normal. It seemed like if you looked for it hard enough, you'd find autism in any kid. This is another reason why it took us so long to get to a solid diagnosis.

Really the only thing that was almost as tough as I expected was how to handle big bro. during all this. He really, really wants it to be about him. He too was thrilled to have these ladies in our home to "play" and it's not easy keeping him from eating up their time. I found myself having to try really, really hard to make Mommy as interesting of a play partner. But it's good for him too - he's going to gain some skills as well.  And they are fantastic at including him and making it fun for him as well. Plus, he will start preschool after next week and that (I'm hoping) will make a huge difference.

This is only the assessment period... we haven't started the real work yet. And it's the honeymoon phase - I had people in my home for 2-3 hours a day - not 6-8. I'm sure the tough stuff is yet to come but we're at least off to a good start.

I also made a trip to a biomedical practice this week to explore that side of the equation. I'm too overwhelmed about it right now to even write it down. One thing at a time...