Sunday, September 13, 2009

Kibby's Appointments

Kibby had a couple of appointments this week. The first was a hearing evaluation with the Audiologist on Wednesday. I wasn't sure if she would be able to be tested in the regular way, where kids push a button or somehow signal when they hear a sound. Kibby isn't the best with understanding or following directions. Especially when there are toys that she wants to play with. She doesn't like having to wait or follow rules. (We can't even get her to play Candyland with us. She just wants to hold all of the candy cards!)
However, they we able to tell, due to her body language and her looking for the sounds and such, even without much consistency on her part, that her hearing is normal. Which wasn't a surprise, but it was good to have her tested anyway, because it rules out an issue with not hearing a certain frequency or anything. So, all good there! She hears just fine!

Then on Friday we met with a social worker to determine what type of evaluation would need to be done by the Developmental Pediatrician. It took an hour and a half, and Kibby did pretty well considering the length of the appointment. She played with toys, showed off her knowledge of colors, shapes and letters, and whispered lots of off the wall things to me as I chatted with the social worker. I told her all of my concerns, and she took notes, asked questions, and we agreed that Kibby's use of language was the main issue to be looked at. Along with that is her social interaction (or non-interaction, perhaps?) and her lack of imaginative play.

I was given information on Early Childhood programs available through the school district, and an application and a number to fill out / call to see if Kibby will qualify for a certain program or not. Since she is already 3, she would go to a center as opposed to having someone come out to our house. (Which will probably be a blessing since my house is always a zoo!) :)

I also found out that it could be a long time until Kibby is seen by the Developmental Pediatrician. They lost some of their staff this Summer and although they are trying to recruit, she said they are really in demand and since there are only a couple hundred of them in the US, they can pretty much pick wherever they want to go. So... it could be a while. I don't know if "a while" means one month? Two months? Longer? We are on their list to call if there are cancellations, so if there is an opening, they'll try to call us. So we wait and see.

Next up is her appointment with the Speech / Language therapist, which is not this week, but the next. The social worker thinks that it's great that her pediatrician referred her to all 3 of these appointments, so she will get a thorough evaluation. We did also talk about the possibility of Autism. She wanted to know if that was a concern of mine. I told her yes, that it's been on my mind for about a year now. I would rather know now than continue to wonder. In my mind, having a certain diagnosis (whether that be autism or something else, or nothing but a speech delay) will be a relief because then we can figure out where to go from there, and hopefully get her some help before she starts school in 2 years. It's not to label her, and it won't change who she is - a diagnosis won't change a thing about her. She will still be the same Kibby as she's always been, but we will hopefully be able to find ways to help her communication development and social skills.

And that is something I'm really looking forward to! :)

2 comments:

Wendy said...

I think you have a great attitude about this Susan. You're right any diagnosis won't change Kibby but just give you steps to take to work toward helping her. Hang in there!

jpandtheboys said...

I agree with Wendy. Your perspective is wonderful. Will be praying for you guys.