Pediatric Lottery Win

This is Vincent dressed up in his rain gear this morning.  I had to get him up at 6:45 AM so we could be out of the house by 7:30.  It was a rainy, wet morning, but ya know what?  I was feeling pretty amazing, and by the grin on Vincent's face, he was, too.

Why?

Well, we had won what I'm henceforth calling the Pediatric Lottery yesterday afternoon.

You see, on December 31st, I was told I'd need a "proper diagnosis" from a Developmental Pediatrician for Vincent's Sensory Processing / Autism symptoms in order to move forward with his district evaluation.  So, I set to work getting him in to see one.

For any of you lucky enough to never be told your child needs to see a D-Ped, you might not be aware that wait time for these rare birds is about 12 months.  12 MONTHS. 

I spent that afternoon calling 6 hospitals (which had between 2 and 3 locations each) trying to locate one for him.  Every.single.one. was booked solid until December 2014.

I was somewhat disheartened by that (not just for Vince, but for all the other families being told they needed to wait so long for the tests needed to move forward with district evaluations).  However, I wasn't going to let a little thing like ridiculously long wait lists slow me down.  

I asked each hospital to pre-register us over the phone in case something popped up between now and December 2014.  Only two hospitals agreed to take my info this early.  I kept a running tab of hospitals, wait times and pre-registration requirements on a list on the back of Vincent's evaluation folder.  Then, starting January 2nd, I went down the list of hospitals and called every other day, hoping for a cancellation.

Yesterday, January 13th, I struck gold and was given an 8AM appointment with a leading developmental pediatrician who specializes in autism and sensory issues.

Seriously - I was running around the office like this:

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Euphoric, I must've thanked God about a thousand times before I'd even called John. Miracle of miracles, I just cannot believe we got in a full 12 months early!  That's just INSANE!

So really, thank you, Lord, for being so amazing to Vincent!!!  What an unexpected (and immensely awesome) blessing!!!  

I gathered all of his materials together and called in a last minute referral to be faxed over by Vincent's regular pediatrician.  They obliged, but couldn't believe I'd gotten an appointment that fast.  They had to call me back just to make sure they'd gotten the date right.  

Pfffft... this is why I don't stress about things.  My God is an Awesome God.  

I couldn't even sleep last night because I was so excited for today.  Seriously - I didn't sleep at all.  I just kept watching the clock as it ticked away the moments until I could finally get his diagnosis confirmed by someone with more authority than me.

Truthfully, the last few months have been incredibly taxing.  I've had so many people tell me I was missing something.  It seemed like everyone was trying to prepare me for the autism diagnosis they were sure I'd hear.  His teachers, the school district, family members, friends... it was beginning to really wear on me.  

I know folks meant well, but I hated constantly being second guessed about my own son simply because I don't have a PhD behind my name.  I would NOT allow him to be labelled autistic if he was not, in fact, autistic.  I wasn't going to just "settle" for the label because it is something easily identifiable to insurance companies.  I wasn't going to allow the Child Study Team to throw together a one-size-fits-all IEP based on expectations for a child with Autism.

If I had even an inkling that Vince was autistic, I'd be singing a different tune.  I'd label him, myself, and make sure everyone was aware of his strengths and difficulties.  I'm not afraid of labels, and I'm not afraid of Autism.  

I am, however, afraid of a system that routinely misdiagnoses children and haphazardly categorizes them into programs that are more detrimental than they are helpful.  I would NOT allow my son to fall victim to that.  

So I educated the heck out of myself.  I've spent weeks pouring over everything I can about Sensory Processing Disorder.  I poured over Autism research, Asperger's research and even dabbled in the ADHD, ADD, ODD suggestions that were thrown my way.  I analyzed Vincent at home and had him try activities suggested by the Pinterest Boards I'd looked into.  I even joined a parent-group and spoke to others struggling with the same issues.  

I was not crazy.  I was not blind.  I was simply refusing to accept their "professional opinion" when they, themselves, didn't have the PhD they scoffed at me for lacking.  
So to say I was anxious to hear the Developmental Pediatrician's evaluation is a total understatement.  

I was going in with the expectation of war, and I knew I'd be coming out victorious.  I had to.  I was fighting for Vincent's future.

The Evaluation Results