Ball of Sunshine

This afternoon, B had an annual check-up with the developmental pediatrician who formally diagnosed him a year ago.

I'm honestly not sure what the point of it was. We met for about a half an hour and I learned (or rather, it was reiterated) that doctors know very, very little about this disorder. He asked me questions and I asked him some and then he said he wanted to see us back this time next year before, incidentally, he retires in the Summer.

He did say a few things of interest:
1) it might be worthwhile to investigate occupational therapy. I have thought about doing this so maybe we will pursue it in the hour or so of free time that B has these days. (I'm serious despite the snippy tone.)
2) When I asked where on the spectrum B falls (mild, moderate, severe), he wouldn't say but said the following:
-if by their 3rd bday, a kiddo has some language of some sort - that is the first milestone toward "mild". He said B meets that.
-then by their 5th bday, there has to be some back and forth communication. If he meets that criteria, he suggested mild autism. If not - moderate.
This was comforting because I swear he said they had to be able to communicate by 3.5 (B's age now) last time I saw him. I was sweating that since he is 3.5 next month. And, then again, it wasn't that comforting because it seems so arbitrary and even contradictory. Guidelines are just that though- no one has the magic answer here. When B was evaluated by a psychologist last year, he rated him as mild-moderate. I'm going to go with that and hope that it begins to look milder and milder as time and treatment go on.
3) I asked him about the diet/biomedical side of intervention which I have been contemplating for some time. Again, the overarching theme was that no one knows if it works. He did venture to say that he doesn't believe and hasn't seen where the lack of biomedical treatment affects outcome. More food for thought, I guess. This one still baffles me.

As B giddily roamed around the room, he said "B, you are just a ball of sunshine, aren't you?" A very accurate description of our little guy. He truly is remarkable in that way. And we are very, very lucky.

I think our 3 hour diagnostic assessment on the 24th will likely be much more helpful and informative. And, of course, there is the biannual, monthly, weekly and daily analysis that our ABA provider gives us. We are armed with a lot of data and yet no one has any idea whatsoever how this is all going to turn out. It's mind boggling and more than a little frustrating for this type-A planner.

In other news, tomorrow we're headed to the capitol for an Autism Rally to hopefully help secure the future of our state funding. It should be interesting with the kids but fortunately, one of our therapists is going along too. And then, afterwards, we head to the pediatric dentist. Poor big brother chipped his two front teeth in a freak hand-washing incident with one of our therapists yesterday. B also has a chipped front tooth (source unknown) and I find it highly ironic that 2 of the most cautious kids on the planet have managed to sustain such an injury.