5 year old with very few words adopted from China-help

[Guest guest]

Hello.

We adopted Evan as a special needs child last Oct. He was 4.5 and we knew he

had a club foot at birth. After he was officially ours, we learned that he had

not learned to speak in his native language. We have very few details as to WHY

this may be his condition.

He had a strange way of holding his head and arms, which we attributed to the

fact that he had learned to walk with his deformed foot and it was hard to

balance, etc. We did get him to make some sounds " on command " and taught him a

few signs to get by. (oh, we've had the foot corrected--I did homework before

we brought him home and was started on correcting it within 2wks of having him

with us...)

I instantly did tons of homework via the internet. I had narrowed his problem

down to possible verbal apraxia, autism, or cerebral palsy. I'm not a

professional (I sell advertising!) so when after he was evaluated by the school

district and our local Special Needs Preschool people, their talk of " delay " due

to lack of one on one stimulation seemed like great news! Just alot of one on

one speech therapy and play and love and " he'll bust through " with speech.

This week, his SLP said he's not progessing as hoped. She thinks he may have

Verbal Apraxia (gee maybe I know more than I think I know) and when I asked, " do

you think he may have signs of CP " , she said " I think he may " .

We live in a small city (about as small as a city can be before they call it a

town!) and the nearest Nuero-Ped is an hour away and back logged up to 2 years

for older kid referrals. We got re-routed out of the line for the nuero dept

and shuffled into the Psych dept. They want to requisition his tests from his

school district tests. I don't think I need another psych to say " well, maybe

it's a delay " .

I want to see a nueroped. How can I get one!

Do I sound whiney? Sorry!

Any advice?

Thanks!

Barbara

[Guest guest]

Barbara - my daughter, adopted from China when she was 10 months old, was

recently formally diagnosed with CAS. She is now 4. It has been a rough few

years trying to figure out what was going on with her development. Her records

from China showed a typically developing child and we, too, initially thought we

were dealing solely with the lack of nurturing and development she experienced

early in life.

A big jump forward for us was when we finally got her to the right doctor. (In

our case it was Dr. Agin in NYC.) For us that meanst someone who could

(finally) diagnose her correctly, and help us advocate for the right services.

I really wish I had done it sooner.

Is there any possibility of taking a trip to a larger city for an evaluation? I

wish you tremendous luck with your journey.

All the best,

Eileen

>

> Hello.

>

> We adopted Evan as a special needs child last Oct. He was 4.5 and we knew he

had a club foot at birth. After he was officially ours, we learned that he had

not learned to speak in his native language. We have very few details as to WHY

this may be his condition.

>

> He had a strange way of holding his head and arms, which we attributed to the

fact that he had learned to walk with his deformed foot and it was hard to

balance, etc. We did get him to make some sounds " on command " and taught him a

few signs to get by. (oh, we've had the foot corrected--I did homework before

we brought him home and was started on correcting it within 2wks of having him

with us...)

>

> I instantly did tons of homework via the internet. I had narrowed his problem

down to possible verbal apraxia, autism, or cerebral palsy. I'm not a

professional (I sell advertising!) so when after he was evaluated by the school

district and our local Special Needs Preschool people, their talk of " delay " due

to lack of one on one stimulation seemed like great news! Just alot of one on

one speech therapy and play and love and " he'll bust through " with speech.

>

> This week, his SLP said he's not progessing as hoped. She thinks he may have

Verbal Apraxia (gee maybe I know more than I think I know) and when I asked, " do

you think he may have signs of CP " , she said " I think he may " .

>

> We live in a small city (about as small as a city can be before they call it a

town!) and the nearest Nuero-Ped is an hour away and back logged up to 2 years

for older kid referrals. We got re-routed out of the line for the nuero dept

and shuffled into the Psych dept. They want to requisition his tests from his

school district tests. I don't think I need another psych to say " well, maybe

it's a delay " .

>

> I want to see a nueroped. How can I get one!

>

> Do I sound whiney? Sorry!

>

> Any advice?

>

> Thanks!

>

> Barbara

>

[Guest guest]

Eileen, Thanks for your help.  I am leaning toward contacting Dr. Agin.  I

pulled a bunch of info about her and her practice off the 'net for my dh to

digest.  I've also emailed her(just the other day...nothing back yet).  NYC is

about 4 hrs away for us, so if need be...I'm THERE!  I'm glad to hear you

mention her...it reinforces my thoughts to pursue her office/services.

Best wishes to you and your family,

Barbara

________________________________

From: luckymom987 <eileenduffy999@...>

Sent: Saturday, May 2, 2009 8:25:04 AM

Subject: [ ] Re: 5 year old with very few words adopted from

China-help

Barbara - my daughter, adopted from China when she was 10 months old, was

recently formally diagnosed with CAS. She is now 4. It has been a rough few

years trying to figure out what was going on with her development. Her records

from China showed a typically developing child and we, too, initially thought we

were dealing solely with the lack of nurturing and development she experienced

early in life.

A big jump forward for us was when we finally got her to the right doctor. (In

our case it was Dr. Agin in NYC.) For us that meanst someone who could (finally)

diagnose her correctly, and help us advocate for the right services. I really

wish I had done it sooner.

Is there any possibility of taking a trip to a larger city for an evaluation? I

wish you tremendous luck with your journey.

All the best,

Eileen

>

> Hello.

>

> We adopted Evan as a special needs child last Oct. He was 4.5 and we knew he

had a club foot at birth. After he was officially ours, we learned that he had

not learned to speak in his native language. We have very few details as to WHY

this may be his condition.

>

> He had a strange way of holding his head and arms, which we attributed to the

fact that he had learned to walk with his deformed foot and it was hard to

balance, etc. We did get him to make some sounds " on command " and taught him a

few signs to get by. (oh, we've had the foot corrected--I did homework before we

brought him home and was started on correcting it within 2wks of having him with

us...)

>

> I instantly did tons of homework via the internet. I had narrowed his problem

down to possible verbal apraxia, autism, or cerebral palsy. I'm not a

professional (I sell advertising! ) so when after he was evaluated by the school

district and our local Special Needs Preschool people, their talk of " delay " due

to lack of one on one stimulation seemed like great news! Just alot of one on

one speech therapy and play and love and " he'll bust through " with speech.

>

> This week, his SLP said he's not progessing as hoped. She thinks he may have

Verbal Apraxia (gee maybe I know more than I think I know) and when I asked, " do

you think he may have signs of CP " , she said " I think he may " .

>

> We live in a small city (about as small as a city can be before they call it a

town!) and the nearest Nuero-Ped is an hour away and back logged up to 2 years

for older kid referrals. We got re-routed out of the line for the nuero dept and

shuffled into the Psych dept. They want to requisition his tests from his school

district tests. I don't think I need another psych to say " well, maybe it's a

delay " .

>

> I want to see a nueroped. How can I get one!

>

> Do I sound whiney? Sorry!

>

> Any advice?

>

> Thanks!

>

> Barbara

>