Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Wordless Wednesday . . . a little EARLY!!! =0)

Okay, so it's not completely wordless Wednesday, but I figured I would throw in a quick blog about some of our most recent appointments as well . . .


Isaiah:

Isaiah had another evaluation with Child Find today. I know I said it would be about 6 weeks or so before we would have the appointment, but they had a cancellation and decided to fit us in. It went well, apart from Isaiah getting frustrated with the 3rd degree by the end of it all. He completely lost it at the end, though . . . because he wanted to take home the car, tractor, and a dinosaur that belonged to the Children's Center.

Apart from the meltdown, Isaiah did well. He was having trouble speaking, but that's not too surprising since he hasn't quite been himself since we were in St. Pete (he wasn't feeling too good on Friday, and it just continued into this week). According to the scores from the evaluation, Isaiah qualifies for OT (speech therapy amongst a few others). The evaluators also mentioned that Isaiah scored high on the evaluation for Aspergers - meaning it is likely that he will be diagnosed with Aspergers should we see a psychiatrist. For me, going to a psychiatrist is one of the last things I want to do with Isaiah (not because I don't trust them, but because he is already on so many meds). So, for now, we will stick with therapy and see how things go. There are a few forms of therapy we can use which will help Isaiah (such as ABA and another that I can't think of right now).

Another thing happened to Isaiah today that really got to me. Since Isaiah had gotten upset after the evaluation, they decided to let Isaiah play on the playground (it's outside, but covered and surprisingly cool . . . if you're not running around). I also checked to make sure that the children were required to wash their hands before going out to the playground, and I was told that all of the children must wash their hands before leaving the classrooms (whether to play on the playground or anything else). So, that's a plus. Anyway, we were on the playground and there happened to be another group on the playground as well. I thought this was great - especially since I wanted Isaiah to have someone to play with. There were 2 little boys who thought Isaiah was the greatest. However, not everyone shared their enthusiasm. Isaiah copies what other children do - he is a follower, for the most part. He will copy anything that another child is doing whether it's crying or making all sorts of noises. He started following this one group of kids around, roaring like a dinosaur and mimicking their every move. Needless to say, there was one girl (obviously the leader of the little group) didn't like him too much. At about the same time, he started flushing and getting a little rashy (the normal outside thing when it's not too cool out). The combination of him annoying the girl and the flushing/rash annoyed the girl even more and so she decided to start kicking Isaiah. Before I could even get to him, she had a group of 4 other boys kicking Isaiah as well. Isaiah's expression was blank - like he was confused. He just kept saying, "Mommy, Nai-Nai, Ye-Ye" over and over like he couldn't understand what was going on. No need to worry, Mommy saved the day (amidst tears because my baby didn't know what was happening to him) and told the kids that kicking wasn't nice and that they needed to apologize. I also alerted their teacher (who had her back turned to the whole thing) who made the entire class sit down and listen to a lecture on how their hands and feet were never to touch anyone.

Isaiah never cried. He just didn't know what was going on. He didn't fight back, he just stood there. Confused. Almost blank. I checked to make sure he was okay, but he will probably have a few bruises on his legs by tomorrow. I felt so bad and so angry at the same time. I know kids are kids, but with all the education about differences . . . these kids were about 5 or so . . . I just thought things would be different. Don't these kids watch Sesame Street???? I'm sure they are nice kids, it's just hard to see your child be picked on for something they cannot help.


My Dad:

My dad had another appointment today. He was told his heart was still fine, but that he needed to take it easy for at least 4 more weeks. He is still susceptible to the pericarditis right now (especially if he has any increased inflammation from doing too much too soon). Sadly, this means that my dad will not be coming to Maryland this week (which also means no West Virginia for him). He is feeling better, it's just that he's not supposed to do anything until his heart and body have had a chance to fully recover.

Of course, he's also not one to mention this to anybody . . . he'd rather blame it on his back. =0) He hates not being able to do anything. This, combined with the symptoms caused by the leukemia, makes it even worse on my dad. He is already unable to do much of the stuff he used to enjoy, but now he can't do even the things he could still do (and actually wanted to do). If anyone has an idea for a hobby that doesn't require fine motor skills (he's shaky with small stuff and he has arthritis in his hands) and physical labor, we'd appreciate the info. He needs something to do.

Now, for the Wordless Wednesday (aren't you glad?????) =0)


"Gorgeous!" (thanks, Max & Ruby) =0)


Enjoying sugar from the sugar bowl . . . Goober! =0)



Always smiling! I love that smile!!!! =0)

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