Autism Evaluation

Today we had our appointment for the autism evaluation. The appointment started at 9 with a developmental pediatrician, a speech therapist, occupational therapist and behavioral therapist. They took turns playing with her and trying to get her to do certain activities in order to assess her. They observed from behind a two way mirror and we answered tons of questions. By 11 they were done and went to compile the results. We waited for 45 minutes or so and then the developmental pediatrician came back to talk to us. Kaitlyn was a champ! Very patient! We didn't leave to head home until 12:30. Poor kiddo was tired.

The diagnosis: Provisional Autism Spectrum Disorder. And Mixed/Global Developmental Delays. The developmental pediatrician was not willing to definitively diagnose. She felt like she definitely has some red flags, but she also sees so many sensory processing issues that they might be getting in the way of her development.

They assessed her developmental in each of 7 areas in order to determine her developmental age - gross motor, fine motor, self help, problem solving, social emotional, receptive language and expressive language. Her strengths were her gross motor and fine motor. Her weakest areas were self help (driven by the fact that she doesn't feed herself) and expressive language (driven by the fact that she doesn't speak or point).

She was given a 34.5 on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). A minimum score of 30 is the cutoff for a diagnosis of autism on the mild end of the spectrum. Her score puts her in the mild range.

Her DSM-IV-TR (standardized criteria to help diagnose) was a 5. A score of 6 or more is considered on the spectrum.

They recommend more of the therapy she is currently getting - speech therapy 2-3 times per week and occupational therapy 2 times per week. They also want us to add behavioral therapy 2-3 times per week. Most likely we will have to do this through a private company as I don't think the agency we are currently working with can meet that frequency (and they don't offer behavioral therapy). We are to return for another visit like this one in 6-12 months.

Lots to process... but hopeful to have a new plan in mind.

Love the Ball Pit!

Kaitlyn gets to play in a ball pit at school and they say she loves it. So when she got one from Uncle Scott and Russell, we were super excited. She was a little wary of it at first. She would reach in and grab the balls but that was it. Tonight she was brave and stepped right in.

Feed Me?!?!

Kaitlyn did the cutest thing tonight! I was snacking on Wheat Thins. She came over and snatched one out of my hand. Then she put it in my mouth! Very interesting! She then kept doing it. I had to hurry to swallow so she could put more in (funny what you do for your kids).

This is huge for us - she doesn't put anything in her mouth. So seems kinda significant that she would even put something in someone else's mouth!

Mommy and Me

October in the Red Room

Here are the latest pics from daycare. I liked this one because she seems to be playing with another kid (although he doesn't look like he is having fun) and I've never seen her play with a shopping cart!

And look at this smile - she loves the ball pit!

Here she is again playing with another kid - and it is a girl!

A box? Looks fun. Birthday idea...?

An adorable yellow crayon!

Kaitlyn had a fun filled Halloween. She had a party at school so Eric and I joined her in the afternoon. We hung out and played on the playground. Then they had a parade where the kids walked around and showed off their costumes. It was really neat seeing Kaitlyn playing at school. She looked very happy! She didn't really enjoy the parade... maybe next year.

After we left school, we stopped by each of the Grandma's houses to show off the costume. From there we went home and took a trip around the block in her pink car. At that point there weren't many kids outside but she did enjoy the ride. She was completely tired though and was asleep by 7:10! Hopefully next year we can really go trick or treating! Here are some pics from school: