A Diagnosis

Jack had his appointment today and we came home with something we weren't really expecting or prepared for: an answer.

Being the day before Thanksgiving, we left over 2 hours before his appointment to allow for plenty of traffic and wouldn't you know it? There wasn't any. So for his 915 appointment we arrived promptly at 750. Luckily the GIANT fish tank kept him occupied until he went to triage at 830. Then back to the lobby until 915 when we met his Doctor.

She was very nice and Jack really seemed to like her. She asked us a lot of questions and a lot of questions that we'd been asked before. Born premature? Take medication while pregnant? Or smoke? Or drink? Breastfeed? C-Section? Why? Any health concerns? The basic things.

She then got down on the floor to play with Jack. A puzzle which he did with ease (even when she reversed it), all while drinking from his sippy cup. She asked him to point at some pictures on a card, they colored, stacked some blocks to make towers and trains, which he happily demolished afterwards. Sooner or later though, her schtick was up and he caught on that this was more of a test and less of playing and he stopped cooperating. He threw a few tantrums which she happily observed and saw how we handled them. Before she stepped out to grade her test, she gave us her diagnosis.

Autism. I felt like I had the wind had been knocked out of me. It wasn't like we weren't expecting it. Or at least I wasn't. I had prepared myself for PDD-NOS or Autism Lite. It's got some of the same symptoms, just not as many (that's how someone explained it to me). I was happy to accept that. It's like Autism but NOT. That's fine by me. As long as it's NOT Autism. But it is.

S They want us to increase his therapy. His doctor has high hopes that with a diagnosis at such an early age and with aggressive therapy that his Autism can be easily managed.

o that's where we are. We are thrilled and relieved to FINALLY have some answers but they weren't the ones I was hoping for.