We got to the appointment at the sane time as several older boys. I handed Ben a train and a Princess Leia Angry Bird stuffie. We rubbed both across his face. A boy probably about 9 and who appeared to have Asperger's sat down next to him and tried several times to initiate conversation. Finally, the boy touched Ben's train and asked to see it. Ben handed it to him. The boy continued to talk to Ben while he say there with his tongue out slightly and drooling slightly.
Then we were called back by a staff member for his developmental screening. I was disappointed she had not read Ben's 2011 developmental ped report I dropped off earlier in the week. While we reviewed information she could have read, Ben stacked blocks and then stacked another toy on the box of blocks. He saw crayons and called them chalk and requested them by pointing and demanding "chalk." he scribbled for 20 seconds and then was all done. In an effort to amuse him, the clinician did peek a boo, which made Ben either crash into a wall or fall face first on the ground, both in fits of giggles.
The clinician ended with the thought she didn't think we had anything to worry about but we'd meet with the psychologist next. We went into a room with more toys and the psychologist came in. We were with her for 30 minutes and Ben never acknowledged her and asked me one question. He amused himself by turning knobs on the thomas train table, taking a wooden puzzle apart, pushing a doll stroller around, and walking the boundaries of the room.
The psychologist asked me more questions, but these were not in his history: eye contact (poor), pointing (very good), pain threshold (high), dairy intake (very low), and social interactions (parallel play). She said we'd have a 2nd appointment with testing. She said to take my time transitioning out of the room and remarked with shock " he transitions easily?" when Ben had no problems. We have been working on transitions for 2 years now.
I am not feeling hopeful that the evaluation will yield much.
We got home and Ben went to his room and immediately lined toys up. Why is stuff like this more clear to evaluators?
4 comments:
You know. And you will find someone who sees it. Hang in there. Hugs.
I would take that picture with you....
Sarah, I showed a video of Ben attacking Liam. He gets into this zone where he just lashes out at Liam,scratching, hitting, punching no matter what I try. The clinician just ignored me and asked Ben why he hit his brother to which Ben just giggled. VERY frustrated.
She sounds like a worthless evaluator. I'm posting in your SE journal now but I would not proceed with these people and instead get a 2nd opinion elsewhere.
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