Off topic...Results of sibling's evaluation....darn it!

July 5, 2001

Today was 's evaluation with the Early Intervention program. I had

arranged it because we were so paranoid after missing 's first signs of

something being wrong. You might remember that I mentioned this earlier on

the list and asked what the rest of you did with siblings. Even though

is doing so well, we asked for an evaluation just to reassure us.

Surprise, there were a couple areas of concern! First, she could not/would

not do any matching or sorting. You know...which one is the same? This was

a concern to them. And they heard her call DH " mommy " and me " Daddy " .

Lately she has been calling us both a new combo name... " mommy-daddy " , as if

she isn't sure which to use.

The other area of concern is her poor articulation. Her language tested at

age appropriate levels but they were concerned about her articulation.

They've requested that we have her hearing tested. And they want us to

repeat everything she says with emphasis on the pronunciation. Otherwise,

she did so well...built a 5 block tower while counting the blocks, reciting

the ABC's, and a lot of talking. The thing that amazed me was when she

easily picked out a picture in a field of 4 pictures (where's the car?).

This is something that only started doing about 6 weeks ago after lots

of work! That made me feel so much better!

Either way, we all brain-stormed about what to do next besides the hearing

test. I feel her language has improved since starting pre-shcool 2 weeks

ago. So we all decided to re-test her in about 2-3 months. By then we'll

likely know if something is wrong. Hopefully the pre-school environment

will speed up her development. They considered starting her right away with

the early intervention program but she is borderline. And I said if I had

to coordinate more therapy with 's schedule it would put me over the

top!

BTW she couldn't string beads...something she should be able to do.

However, she made good eye contact with them and showed imaginative play.

She still occasionally toe walks and echos...she did echo for them.

That's the news. I was horrified that they didn't just say " Lady, she is so

normal...why did you call us? " DH was pretty upset and came home from work

in tears because he also expected her to pass with flying colors. I'll keep

you posted as time goes on. They did say that it is often the case that a

sibling of a child on the autistic spectrum will have a language or

developmental delay. Dang it!

BTW both girls have been gfcf since March 18th. ' s diarrhea and

diaper rash have really improved. And her eczema is a little better.

Thanks for listening.

H, mommy to 3 1/2 yrs, PDD; and 2 yrs, NT?

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