The big autism testing day had arrived. We arrived at Helen Devos Children's Hospital at 8am. Mason and I checked in and waited in the waiting room for around 15 minutes for the first appointment. Mason was in a good mood but was a wild man. Climbing the frog in the waiting room, rolling on the floor, trying to go in rooms, running down any hallway he could, and driving trains on any surface.
I was quite excited when they called us back, and he was contained in one room. We first met with a clinical psychologist. He observed Mason playing with toys in the room, asked me a lot of questions, and tried to play with Mason in specific ways to make observations. Mason was mostly regulated during the session and gave pretty accurate observations of his play and behaviors. I would say that the only thing he didn't show was his usual interactions with me as he was checking out everything in the room. The psychologist was really nice and knowledgeable. He answered all of my many questions as well.
After going back to the waiting room for another insane 20 minutes of waiting with Mason, we were called back to the behavioral pediatrician. He explained that his job was to see if there would be something going on medically as well as autism. He told me that he processes a lot out loud, which was helpful to know. Mason was into every bin of toys in his room. The doctor commented on Mason's hyperactivity and impulsivity in every action. He made note of the fact that Mason had a hard time finishing his ideas because he is always distracted by another idea. This is something we have heard from other therapists. Then the doctor asked me a lot of random questions about Mason. About his head size, his hand shape, his eyes, his gait, and so much more. Mason was getting tired by this point so snuggled on my lap with his bunny and pacifier. The doctor was surprised that Mason could calm and snuggle in my lap. He also said that he considered Mason's strengths to be atypical in some ways. While Mason definitely fits the autism diagnosis, the doctor felt like there were some behaviors that are unique. Based on Mason's behaviors and physical characteristics, the doctor recommended doing some genetic testing to see if there is something else also going on with Mason.
The final appointment in the testing was with a speech pathologist. Mason was super tired by this point, so a lot of the appointment was me reporting information about Mason. He's been seeing speech therapists for over a year now, so I knew what to expect. Mason also had to hide behind a wall to poop during the appointment. The joys. (:
We just received the official report back on Friday. Even though everything in the report was expected, it still felt overwhelming to see all the information. He now has an official autism diagnosis. The psychologist wrote that he was at a moderate level. The behavioral pediatrician added that Mason has hyperkinesis of childhood with developmental delays. I had no idea what that meant, but Google tells me that it is like a more serious ADHD that's diagnosed in young children. They also noted that they were not able to assess cognitive ability at this point. The doctor did mention in the report that he would not be surprised if there was cognitive impairment. This was a hard sentence for me to see as I am still really hopeful that he does not have impairment in this area as well. Then the doctor also recommended the genetic testing like he told me during the appointment. They both recommend Mason going to ABA (applied behavioral analysis) therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. Thankfully we have all of those in place except ABA.
Mason's pediatrician also received the report and called to follow up. They told me they made the referral to genetics. We will get a lot of paperwork to fill out. When we send it back, they will call us to make an appointment. They will also send us a list of ABA therapists that we could go to.
So that is the big update with our sweet Mase Man. When I asked Zach to give me his opinion on this post and add anything, he told me that it was really factual and didn't have a lot of my feelings in it. The thing is...I'm having a hard time figuring out my feelings. I think getting the report kinda put me in a numb state. There are a few big, new pieces of information from the doctors that would usually bring a lot of emotions to the surface. In the past year, we have heard a lot of hard information about Mason from a lot of therapists and teachers. I think I've gotten to a place where new, difficult information has become our new norm. No information is shaking me up because I feel like I have been continually shaken up throughout the last year. I don't think it is a bad or a good thing, it's more of a coping mechanism on how to move forward and get Mason the help he needs.
So many things are going on for Mason, and he has no idea. Poor little man just goes from one appointment to the next. We are hoping that all of these diagnoses and new supports will help him grow and be the best, happiest Mason he can be.
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