Now, someone other than my neighbor (which by the way she is a professional although I said in my last post that the speech therapist testing Alex was the first professional to tell us he had red flags for Autism)....anyway, I digress....has told us that Alex has these "red flags". Wow! Are you kidding me. Our sweet boy who likes to entertain himself may be Autistic. Now what do we do? Well, that was when things got difficult....really difficult...okay really it just sucked!

We quickly found out that to get into a Developmental Pediatrician that specializes in Autism could be upwards of 9 months on a waiting list. So, I quickly went to work getting him on the waiting list for 2 Children's Hospitals - good thing I love paperwork and forms - that's my paralegal training kicking in. Then, we had to contact the local county MRDD - again more paperwork. Really, my first thought was that my kid could be going to school on a short bus. Now admit it, you have all made fun of the kids on the short bus. I'm wondering if I am now beging taught a BIG lesson. The county came in and did their "assessment" while we were waiting on the big waiting list to get our official diagnosis and they said they could start services for Alex with just a speech delay while pending diagnosis. Our school district was also brought in...again more paperwork...and I was introduced to the world of Special Education and IEPS. So, the county immediately sent in an in-home intervention specialist a few times a week until he turned 3. Then when he turned three he went to preschool 4 mornings a week (and thankfully got picked up in a regular bus although it did say "Montgomery County Transportation"). More on the preschool later.

Thankfully the lady from the county who did our assessment had remembered that a wonderful doctor had once worked at our local Children's Medical Center but had moved to Akron she thought. She said that he was really good at determining if a child met the Autism guidelines whey they were "mild", which was what she though Alex was. So, I immediately started researching this doctor and low and behold he was in Akron, OH....I got Alex on their weighting list and they had a lovely cancellation policy that got us in in about a month. Now we had to make a quick decision to drive up there one Thursday night for a Friday appointment but it was well worth it. We got the diganosis and continued on our waiting list near home so we could have a doctor closer to home monitor his progress but the diangosis was most important.

Now, how were we feeling about the diagnosis??? Interestingly I felt calm when he told me that Alex was on the "Autism Spectrum". I remember my husband not really knowing what that meant and that we had to have a conversation about that on the way home. Yes, Alex was Autistic but on the "spectrum" of Autism this doctor felt he was mild to moderate. I didn't do a lot of reasearch on Autism prior to our meeting. Maybe I just wasn't ready but when the doctor finally said he was on the "Spectrum" and recommended some books, I was ready to hear it and ready to learn more. I remember reading one book that talked about the "signs" or "red flags". Things that Alex did or was doing now really made sense now:

He had hand flapping when excited since 6 months of age.

He knew his letters and numbers before age 2.

He could use language to communicate his wants and needs but didn't have functional converational language (remember this was January we got the diagnosis and he was turning 3 in March).

He loved to watch doors open and close even before he could walk.

He loved to put things into slots/holes. He put a lot of cards into or fireplace fent holes and money in our tape player in the car.

He loved playing with books, looking through them for hours and watching the pages turn.

He loved playing with cars/trains but would get down to the level of the wheels and watch them turn.

He was always lovey and affectionate with us. However, if I was sitting on the ground he would run towards me but when he as a few steps away he would turn around and backup into my lap (this was in the book as a sign and I was blown away).

We didn't have the lack of eye contact like many Autistic children do but he did often seem like he was in his own world. I personally thought he was like his dad and was ignoring me!!!

I thought he played well with other kids but later found out out that he played "around" other kids not with them.

So I continued to plug away at finding services. We quickly found out the most frustrating thing I think of this whole process....our private medical insurance would not cover services (therapy) for Autism. Yes I am 100% serious. I remember having some severe breakdowns on the phone over this issue. Those poor insurance representatives I talked to. Oh my was I mean. The "diagnosis" process was covered but once he was labeled Autistic they said it was no longer a medical issue but a "developmental" issue. Can you believe it. How more medical can a disorder of the brain be??? I will write more on this issue later for sure.

So, after many, many phone calls I found that traditional speech and occupational therapies would cost us over $100 per session. Are you kidding me...where are we going to get this $$? Now, the county did have some funding but it was limited (we never received more that $900 a year which seems like a lot but not at $100/session). The preschool was free through the county but the extra therapy recommended was going to put us in the poor house. In addition, summers were going to be really hard. How do we start school in March and then a few months later have no structure? Oh, now I am seeing why my mental breakdown happened. I thought the first year with Simone was our hardest. This may have been the worst year.

Okay so I'm having a mental breakdown. Seriously suffering from depression. My son was just diagnosed with Autism. My husband had a seizure (thankfully after much testing) nothing serious was discovered. It was attributed to lack of sleep and stress! My daughter was still a handful. I felt like I had little extended family support through this whole thing (oh definitely more on that later). I then find out that our medical insurance will cover 100%...yes 100% of up to 20 visits in a year for me to seek counseling for mental health. ARE YOU F#@!@** KIDDING ME! I'm going mental mostly because we can't provide services to our child because you won't pay but you'll pay for me to get help for something you are partially contributing to. Seriously!

But wait....there's more....