Assessment

Today was River's assessment for autism and he has been diagnosed as autistic (or within the autism spectrum), in the opinion of the phychiatrist, the speech therapist and the pediatrician. It is early days yet so we still have to figure out where we go from here. We have a "feedback" meeting still to attend so hopefully that will provide us with a framework. I won't go on and on about it. I noticed a while back that he was missing some of his milestones and decided to take him to the doctor. I've never been glued to the milestone charts which I believe, in some ways, can make parents feel inadequate if their child does not meet the required "timeline". But River was quite a ways off, especially in terms of his communication skills. There seemed to be a lot more going on with him than just being a boy and therefore "delayed" as people often thought. I had to be quite firm with the doctor in order to get a referral to the pediatrician. The doctor told me I should wait until River was 3. But my instinct told me that things were not as they should be and I got the referral. The pediatrician shocked us by advising us to have River assessed for autism as soon as we could and that the earlier the intervention, the better. We found that the waiting list to have River assessed through the Children's Hospital was nearly a year (which is outrageous when you think about it). So we got a private assessment, which was today. We are not surprised at today's outcome because it is what we suspected, especially since we saw the pediatrician. Our priority is to get River the resources he needs so that we can help him reach his potential. We don't know the ins and outs of autism, but I imagine we'll be finding out. And I am sure it is different with every child. Obviously, no one wants to find out their child is autistic, but at least we can move forward and get him the support that he needs (and that we as a family will need). I am glad that we stuck to our instincts and got a very early assessment. It is rare for kids to be diagnosed earlier than 2. Hopefully, we can make a big difference early on. Of course, River is still the same beautiful little boy. The good thing is that he is so happy, always laughing and smiling. I think that his happy disposition can only help...laugh and the world laughs with you. Something like that.
And his hair definitely looks better, I'm surprised the doctors didn't mention it how great it looks.