Ready For Round 2
I’ve decided, that since I started blogging about my experience with Bella after she was diagnosed, that this time around, I’d tell Niko’s story from the very start. It’s not a surprise to me that he has autism. I’ve suspected it since he was six months old.
He wasn’t babbling, or making any noise besides crying. He had limited eye contact and was off in his ‘own world’ most of the time. He would respond to his name, every now and then, but most of the time, it took a loud noise to get his attention. As he got older, I grew more and more convinced that he was autistic.
Now, he’s almost two and has yet to say his first ‘real words’. He has no communication skills, doesn’t like being held, but unlike Bella, who cried a lot, he’s full of smiles and laughter. Everything makes him laugh, even if we can’t figure out why.
This time around, I skipped the doctors appointments. Last time, they just kept telling me that ‘she’d grow out of it’ and it added nearly three months onto the time it took to really get her evaluated. So, I went straight to the source, and the only people that can really help Niko; I called the Kirsch Center at Strong hospital and Early Intervention.
The Kirsch Center has a long waiting list, but while I wait, I know that I can get him into the therapies he needs. From Kirsch, I got the paperwork needed to get him an appointment. I was able to get them to email me the papers I needed; A parents questionnaire, a doctors referral and the early intervention forms. When I called Early Intervention, they were able to send someone out to the house within days to get the process started.
His official in home evaluation is on the 21st. They’ll be sending out a pediatric pathologist, a physical therapist, speech therapist and an occupational therapist to evaluate him and decide which therapies he’d most benefit from. At this point, I’m pretty sure he’ll qualify and benefit from all three.
So, for the next few months, I’ll be using the blog to document the process my son will be going through, from the preliminary evaluations to the Kirsch, to his first days of therapy. I’ve seen the amazing progress my daughter has made and I have high hopes that these programs will help my son as well.
Isabella (on the left) and Nikolas (on the right) were born on the same say, three years and one hour apart. They were the only ones born with hair (and lots of it). As their pictures hang on the wall, most people who see them at the same age can't tell them apart. Sometimes when I go through their baby pictures, I can't even tell them apart.
Sweet Nikolas will be 2 years old in just under 4 weeks. His smile can light up a room and his laugh is one of the greatest sounds I've ever heard.
