One Year Later

We took Isaiah to Madison today for a one-year follow-up appointment with his developmental pediatrician at the Waisman Center. It was a pretty uneventful visit - which we like. :)

Here is a brief summary of the things we discussed with the doctor:

1) Leg cramps - Isaiah continues to get "Charlie Horse" cramps in his legs while he is sleeping. We notice them more after he has spent a lot of time in heavy physical play, such as climbing or running. Usually after one dose of Tylenol, the cramps go away for the night. For now, we are to try 1 tsp of Tylenol every night before bed.

2) Constipation - Isaiah often goes 4-5 days between bowel movements. When he starts to get backed-up, he becomes quite irritable, eats less, and misbehaves more. The doctor suggest trying Miralax, as we have been trying fiber gummies but they obviously aren't doing what they should.

3) Toilet training - my BIGGEST frustration (and source of feeling like a parenting failure). Isaiah talks about the potty, yet he absolutely REFUSES to go. The doctor said that the worst think we can do is fight with him about it. He has to decide. We need to determine some type of reward. She suggested making an attractive Treasure Box with fun prizes from the Dollar Store. As a teacher - HELLO! I certainly can handle that, though I don't think it's going to work for getting Isaiah to go. I'll try anything, though.

So, bad news - there really is no way to convince Isaiah to go on the toilet. She does think preschool will help motivate him to go. Good news - we can have a prescription written for Pull Ups because he is over the age of 4 and has an Autism diagnosis. Next on the list to do - call insurance to see if they will pay for Pull Ups. If not, apply for Katie Beckett - which I probably should do anyway.

4) Diet - Isaiah has not been the best eater lately. Because he is still such a small little guy, the doctor suggested I follow-up the diet discussion with our regular pediatrician and possibly get a referral to see a pediatric dietician. At least when he gets picky he eats fruits and vegetables! It's protein and iron that we're concerned about.

5) Perseverative behaviors, such as Coke machines and elevators. Three things to try - distraction, substitution, and foreshadowing with the use of social stories. I'm going to try to find a special toy with buttons that we will allow him to push in place of the Coke machine buttons. I think we're going to need lots and lots of prayers to get him out of this behavior...

We won't see Dr. I until next summer. I'm glad we'll be going back because it's always good to stay connected with a specialist just in case. I'm even more glad that Isaiah is making so much progress and doing so well that we don't have to go back sooner. :D

- becky

A Diagnosis

In August 2009, Isaiah began working with Outagamie County's Birth to 3 Early Intervention Program. We learned in October 2009 that he was to be classified as SDD - Significant Developmental Delay. He began receiving services through the Appleton Area School District around the time of his 3rd birthday (November 21, 2009) in the areas of speech/language and early childhood.

I spoke with one of Isaiah's Birth to 3 teachers during his last week of services regarding signs of Autism. At that time, we made an appointment with his pediatrician, Dr. Henry, who referred us to a developmental pediatrician out of the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. I promptly called that office to make an appointment...for 8 months later. That's right! It really does take that long to get in to see the doctor.

Isaiah's appointment in Madison was on June 29th. I had filled out a great deal of paperwork and sent it thru the mail several months ago, and we spent the first 45 minutes or so of the appointment discussing its contents and answering some questions about Isaiah that Dr. Iyama had. Dr. Iyama then played with Isaiah for the next 45 minutes or so before we filled out a behavioral checklist with the doctor, similar to the M-CHAT. Once everything was taken into consideration, it was determined that Isaiah does fall on the spectrum. His official diagnosis is ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The purpose of this blog is to keep everyone informed of Isaiah's appointments, therapies, and progress. I will do my best to update this regularly. You might want to subscribe to the RSS feed, so that you are aware of when it is updated. My first post is loaded with extra links. As I use terminology that is new to us (so maybe to you, too), I will insert links so that you can learn with us.

- becky