Kenny

Last May I took Kenny to the doctor for a well visit.  Everything was fine until the pediatrician
asked if I had any concerns. I mentioned that he did not have a very wide vocabulary. Maybe he could say 10-15 words and quote some weird phrases from the movie "Up".   The doctor didn't seem concerned but said that we should get him checked out.

I took him to Child Find in our school district so they could evaluate him.  Patrick could not speak when he was a child because of his hearing problems and Child Find placed him in speech therapy and he could talk by 3rd grade.  I was thinking that this might be the same thing, without all the ear surgeries.  Well, they did an evaluation with a speech therapist, a counselor and some other therapists.  At the end of the session they told me they saw quite a few things that concerned them.   I left with a sad heart, packets on Sensory Integrative Dysfunction and the thoughts that my child may be on the Autism Spectrum.

In August, Kenny started preschool as a special education student in a class with one other student and two therapists and three aids.  He goes to school 2 1/2 hours four days a week.  They have been working on speech, motor, behavioral, and other skills.  It has been a whirlwind of emotions for me and the family.  As I researched the autism spectrum I found some things that Kenny has been doing since he was little, like spinning and smearing poop on the wall.  His funny quoting of movies is typical too.  We are in the midst of trying to get a formal diagnosis, so he can get the therapies he might need while he is still little.

Since he has started the preschool, Kenny is now saying some sentences and is engaging in play with other children instead of sitting in front of a computer. I have seen much improvement in just a few months.