The Spectrum

Last summer when we were at Shelby's regular check-up with the neurologist, Dr. Poplawski suggested that we have Shelby evaluated by a developmental pediatrician for Autism. I thought this was ridiculous--Shelby did NOT have autism. The nerve of Dr. P! He spends about ten minutes with my daughter every 6 months, how dare he even bring this up! Dr. P told us that kids who have neurological issues are actually more likely to have Autism. I left the doctor's office angry--Shelby has plenty of behavior peculiarities, but I have always chalked them up to her cortical visual impairment, sensory issues, or the fact that her brain processes information differently because of the damage that was done to into when she had a humongous brain hemorrhage before she was born. Autism was never on my radar.

After much discussion, Trip and I made the developmental appointment. We figured that if nothing else, it was an opportunity to learn more about Shelby and to get some advice on potty training issues. Our appointment was the day before Thanksgiving. Dr. Sheppard's office was huge. One half of it was a play room and the other half of it contained a desk and chairs. I sat down across from Dr. Sheppard and Trip helped Shelby locate a familiar toy to play with before joining us. I quickly informed Dr. Sheppard that I did not want her to spend ten minutes with my daughter who is terrified of doctors (for good reason) and then diagnose her with Autism.

We were in Dr. Sheppard's office for two hours. Shelby played and we told the doctor about our daughter and answered multiple questions. At the end of the appointment, Dr. Sheppard was incredibly kind--and she told us that Shelby has Autism. She had been observing Shelby and interacting with her and taking in what we had said. She informed us that though some of Shelby's behaviors could be explained by her other disabilities, she still felt that Shelby was on the spectrum. She then gave us a ton of brochures about the many Autism resources in our community.

So where do we go from here? I've been around the block long enough to know that a diagnosis does not define my child and that Shelby is the same person today that she was before I found out she had Autism. I am also incredibly overwhelmed. I have a child with multiple disabilities--she sees a speech therapist, a physical therapist, a vision teacher, an exceptional-ed teacher and two occupational therapists every week. I do not spend enough time working with her as it is, and now we've got another diagnosis to consider. I feel like most of the things I read about Autism are not helpful for Shelby, in light of her other disabilities.

We have an appointment scheduled for next year with a doctor that specializes in Autism and I plan to bring this up with him. In the meantime, we're going to look at Shelby's IEP again and see if anything needs to be tweaked. We'll continue to do what we've always done--love her and do the best we can.

Weekend Fun and Monday Appointments

1) We had two house showings this weekend....let's hope this trend continues (and that someone wants to buy it soon.....)

2) We told Harding we'd have some fun this weekend now that the house is finally listed.Our Friday night family fun consisted of Putt Putt with the Moss family.

I took this photo when Harding got a hole in one. Good times. :)

3) Landen spent the night with us for the first time Saturday night and it was surprisingly easy and really fun!

He wants to do everything Harding does....bubble beard and all.

Landen seemed to have the best attention span of the family for bedtime stories. Shelby was bouncing and Harding was in vampire mode.

4) We had a very busy Monday with three appointments after school/work today.

Harding has been seeing the orthodontist for a year now and Dr. Ryan has been "watching" the progression of his teeth and how they grow. The deal is that Harding has lots of teeth and not much space for them to come in. He's going to have four teeth pulled by the dentist next month and hopefully that will help the space situation. I have a feeling we will be getting to know Dr. Ryan real well ($$$)!

We left the orthodontist and headed to the allergist for Harding's biweekly shots, then went home for Shelby's first appointment with her new OT. This went surprisingly well! I am feeling good about Liz...she interacted well with Shelby and had some really good ideas. She seems so knowledgeable when it comes to sensory stuff. It is hard making a therapist change and we'll certainly miss Adam, but I am looking forward to working with Liz and seeing what happens.

2013 Asheville Citizen-Times City Half Marathon

I ran my fourth half marathon yesterday morning and it was great! I've been training with a group of women since July, and I was completely prepared for this race--despite having not run much during the week since school started. My long runs on Saturdays with these women have made up the majority of my self-care and social time this fall and it has been a wonderful outlet for me during a very stressful semester. This year, I was lucky to have my sister Chris and my neighbor Michelle join our training group and I loved having them there and getting the opportunity to bond with some other women during our long runs too. I'm thankful for my friend Julie who organized all our weekend training routes and got the group together in the first place, and I was bummed that some nasty shin splints kept her from running with us on race day. I finished 544th overall with a time of 2:05:03 and felt great throughout the entire 13 miles. I am still hoping to run a half marathon in under two hours at some point, but this year was more about enjoying myself as I trained and ran the race. Maybe the fifth time's the charm? We'll see next time!

My mom took this one of us after the race...by the way, Chris finished in 2:55!!!!

Chris and I posing with Michelle and her sister Jenny before the race--at 5:40 in the morning.

Our cute fan club: Harding and Isaac immediately took over our medals and told everyone that they won the race.

For Sale!!!!

Our house is officially listed, and what a job it has been to get it ready! It feels like we have done nothing lately but eat, sleep, work, and work on the house once we get home. We've renovated a bathroom, tiled the kitchen, painted, replaced carpet, majorly de-cluttered, and hauled multiple loads of stuff to Goodwill. We're looking forward to relaxing a little bit (in between keeping our home spotless and ready to show). Check out the pictures of our house on the MLS listing if you're interested....it looks pretty darn good. I'm trying to be patient with this process and am reminding myself that it will happen when it is supposed to. Meanwhile, we're about to start finalizing house plans with a builder. This is such an exciting time....cross your fingers for us!

Goodbye and Thanks

Shelby's beloved OT, Adam is moving. We had our last session with him on Friday and we're incredibly sad to see him go. But we're grateful for the time that he spent with us. Trip and I have been reminiscing about all the major milestones in Shelby's life that he has been there for (and helped her get to). Adam's stubbornness has matched Shelby's and he has been unwavering in his high expectations for her, while at the same time making therapy truly fun. Adam practically lived with us for three weeks of constraint induced therapy, working with Shelby as much as three times a day during that period. Adam was there when Shelby took her first steps--a moment that will forever be etched in my mind (the video is somewhere on this blog). He has touched our hearts and we wish him the very best. Here's hoping we cross paths again someday!