Xander's Evaluation

So we just finished Xan Man's evaluation!  This evaluation was NOT to test for autism.  Basically it was to see if Xander would qualify for services, and which services that may be.  I knew for sure he would need speech therapy (duh.. he doesn't talk!) But other than that I was kind of going in blind. Overall it went... ok.

The evaluator came in and explained the process.  Basically if Xander wualified he would get an IFSP (individual family services plan) which is an IEP for toddlers (makes total sense to my teacher brain!!

The evaluation started out with her asking me a bunch of questions about what Xander does/doesn't do.  Can he walk? Can he feed himself? Does he follow 1 or 2 step directions? Can he differentiate between familiar/nonfamiliar people? Does he engage in play? Does he express different emotions? Can he express his needs/wants? Does he show appropriate separation anxiety? there were many more but those are the ones I remember.  Most of the questions were a "rarely" or "never" for Xander. 

Next, the evaluator started working with Xander.  This was a complete flop.  She would try showing him toys and doing some object permanence games with him and stuff.  At first he would not engage AT ALL.. he was just chasing after me and crying trying to get me to pick him up.  I decided to sit on the floor across from the evaluator with Xander on my lap.. basically holding him forcing him to engage with the evaluator.  When I did this, Xander actually did really well with the games and was able to complete almost all the tasks.  The one he failed miserably was when he was playing on the couch and she rang a bell from across the room.  She rang the bell multiple times and Xander didn't turn to look towards the noise not one time.  She also called his name several times and he never acknowledged her.  She said based on those 2 things alone he would qualify!

So in order to qualify for services, Xander would need to score below 25% in 2 areas or below 45% in one area.  She said she can't give me official results.. but off the record he definitely scored below 45 in speech and language structure.  She is extremely confident he will be getting speech and language services.

As she was leaving, I asked the evaluator if she thought he was strictly speech and language delayed or if she thought he might be autistic.  She said she didn't know.  But she said if we are concerned, we could get on the waiting list to have him officially tested at Vanderbilt for autism.  I told her our pediatrician said he couldn't be tested until after age 2 and she basically said that is untrue.  She did say this is a test that takes several hours and that the waiting list is 8 or 9 months.  But we can tell our services coordinator if we are interested in getting this test done for Xander and she will get us on the waiting list.

So there it is!  The next step is waiting for the service coordinator to call us to go over the results and get started on his IFSP.  We will map out some short and long term goals for Xander and decide how many/how often/ and which therapies he will get.

I'll let you all know when we get started on the next step!  Prayers for my sweet little dude.

Toddlerhood

Ok, who dropped the ball and forgot to tell me toddlers are CRAZY!! goodness!! So much has happened since their first birthday.  I feel like each day they are learning something new, doing something new, or getting in trouble for something new.  I'll catch you up as best I can with everything that's gone on.

Let's start with Londyn.  This girl has learned a new word about every 5 minutes.  She knows all her animals and the sounds they make, she knows most of her foods and pretty much all basic language.  Talking to her is literally like talking to a little adult.  She loves pretend play and spends majority of her day playing with her little plastic animals and pretending to feed her baby dolls.  She is still a huge daddy's girl and constantly asks for dada the whole time he is at work.  She is a very cautious walker.  She prefers knee walking and still doesn't like to walk without holding my finger (which gets very exhausting having to walk back and forth with her for hours while still trying to tend to Xander) she is just now starting to stand up by herself and walk unassisted.  It's not that she can't do it by herself because she definitely can, she is just super cautious and would rather have help!  All in all she is a perfectly healthy happy little girl who is meeting every milestone perfectly.

Now Xander.  First of all this boy is basically running everywhere now.  He can climb anything you put in front of him and just loves doing anything physical.  But here is what I wanted to talk to you guys about.  Around 13 months Will and I noticed something... different.. about Xander.  The first thing we noticed was that he would never respond to his name when you called him.  We thought maybe he was just tuning us out while watching wiggles.  Then we noticed he was falling behind Londyn socially.  Where Londyn started interacting with us and learning words and using other forms of communication to get her needs met (pointing, bringing us toys and books, looking at stuff we would point out to her, etc.) Xander just.. wasn't.  Londyn started interacting with the dog and trying to interact with Xander and Xander hadn't said any words yet, not even babbling, and he just wouldn't engage with anything or anyone. 

At their 15 month well check we brought up our concerns with the pediatrician.  He said we were right to be concerned but nothing would be done unless we still had concerns at the 18 month well check.  He said some kids have a huge burst between 15 and 18 months.. but my mom gut knew we would be having this conversation again.  Sure enough at 18 months Xander still isn't saying any words and not engaging in any kind of social interaction.  He is also beginning to have meltdowns.  He is prone to having meltdowns if he can't find me.  His favorite thing to do is be in my arms and he will hold me so tight and play with/chew on my hair (after doing some research I have found that Xander is a sensory seeker).  Since his 18 month well check, he has had 3 major meltdowns.  The first one was getting his haircut.  The other 2 were in the bath.  I firmly believe these meltdowns are because of sensory overload.  What I am trying to say is, at this point we believe Xander is on the Autism Spectrum.  The pediatrician said he will not be officially tested until age 2, but he is going to be evaluated by an early intervention team to determine which therapies we will be starting (speech, OT, PT, etc.) They will be coming to the house to evaluate him.  Right now I am playing phone tag with the evaluation team, but hopefully we can get something set up soon.  Until then I am researching, joining groups, and just trying to help my boy as much as possible while also tending to Londyn Mae.

The ride just keeps getting crazier friends!! I am so thankful I picked up on some of the red flags and Xander will be getting the earliest intervention possible.  I am thankful God chose me to be his mom.  I am thankful for my beautiful baby girl and the fact that she is already proving to be so sweet and nurturing. 

I will try to keep this blog more up to date and we move through the process of getting Xander evaluated and the whole process we have coming up. 

 Feeding her baby duck

 His favorite sensory activity- wrapping his arms and legs around me as tight as he can and playing with my ponytail as I squeeze him back.  He could stay like this for hours and will scream when I put him down.