We took Emmett to the developmental pediatrician yesterday for assessment. We didn't learn anything new except that she didn't think he would progress the way he has since his last assessment. She is not optimistic he will ever speak. She wants me to take formal American Sign Language lessons to help him communicate meaningfully. She didn't really have anything new to tell us--I hope the report we will get from her later will have more information in it.
We know that he developmentally normal in all aspects except communication. She thinks he will need supportive care in kindergarden if not beyond. She assures us he is not Autistic. She wants to send us to a neurologist and a geneticist so he can have tests to determine why he is the way he is. This will not change his course of treatment, we will just have a reason. I am not sure how I feel about putting Emmett through blood tests and possibly sedation for an MRI if it won't really help him, but the appointments won't happen for at least six months so I have time to think about how badly we need to know.
I don't know how I feel about this. I have seen real progress with Emmett's speech development in the past few weeks. I was feeling so hopeful. I just feel let down now.
I guess I have to take a line from my favourite character in Finding Nemo and Just Keep Swimming.......
4 comments:
I know that I don't know you, or really anything about you. So take my opinion with a grain or the whole shaker of salt...
But you know, as homeschooling parents, we're accustomed to ignoring the experts about a lot of things. If you're seeing progress and are happy with how he's doing, you don't really need an expert to tell you otherwise.
And you know, they *can* be wrong.
They're not infallible.
I am not going to give up on Emmett. I told his developmental therapist what the doctor said and she just said "Well, we'll just prove her wrong, won't we?" All of the other "experts" I have in my corner are far more optimistic with Emm's prognosis. I am glad they believe in him like I do.
You hang in there girl. My oldest is blind in his left eye. They have told me his whole life that when he hit the teen years we would need to do surgery because his muscles in that eye would give out and we would need a fake eye. I always worked with him and he uses that eye even thou he can't see. he exercices the muscles. We went to the eye Dr. last week and he told me that Aron's muscles are stronger this year than last year and we shouldn't have to worry about a fake eye. Seems to me your doing a good job!
You know your Emmett best. Follow your instincts.
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