Back! Again...

Back in November I had written a rather lengthy post but did not publish it because it was late and I wanted to give it one more read through for grammar and what not.  Well, life happened and I never went back to it.  In retrospect, it seems senseless now and I may tell that story at a later date or in a series of posts later on.  Life has happened and so lets get caught up.


My wife and I were married in December and Nicholas was our ring bearer.  It was an amazing family time and well enjoyed.  I will do a post of pictures and what not soon, too.

Now down to the important stuff: Nicholas.

We have noticed some very peculiar behaviours and quirks in him for years but he has always met milestones (at the later end of the norm) and he hasn't been much trouble.  As time for kindergarden approached we figured we'd send him off and then discuss our concerns with the teacher.  If she saw them too we'd go from there.  If not, we're just paranoid parents.

He started school in September and that experience was less than perfect.  To be honest, it was awful.  He was there for 3 1/2 months of pure hell and maybe some day I'll share that experience.  Anyway, the things we noticed were also noticed by the teacher and he was assessed by various specialists for Autism.

The school specialists cannot diagnose because they are not doctors.  This concept seemed confusing to some so let me explain.  Your child has a runny nose and has been sneezing more than usual.  Your child seems to be eating less than usual and is less playful than usual.  You give your child a hug and notice them a little warm.  You take their temperature and it's a low grade fever.  You conclude your child has a cold.  If someone asks you how your child is doing and you tell them your child has a cold, chances are you won't be asked if you are sure it is a cold and if a doctor has confirmed it.  That would be silly, to run to the doctor for a little cold.  But you keep an eye on your child and if other symptoms come up or a week passes with no improvement, then you go to the doctor and let the doctor either confirm it's a cold or if it could be something else.

Assessing a child for autism at the school works the same.  There are a group of specialists that evaluate the child and then come up with a conclusion based on what is known autistic behaviour.  They can't say "your child is autistic" but they say "your child has autistic-like behaviours."  For school purposes, this is enough for the school accommodate your child's individual needs.  An official diagnosis may be needed for other kinds of services.

For now, all we have is the school's assessment of autism-like (which we take as basically, yes, he is autistic like you would take your child symptoms as a positive sign of a cold) and his IEP.  Based on his needs (and because we refused to allow our child back in that school) they found him a school that could better accommodate his learning needs.  He has now been at his new school for three weeks.

This is a new journey for our family and there have been some challenges in this short amount of time.  But we are all coping well, I think, we are already seeing positive changes in Nicholas.

First day of his new school.