Diagnosis

So we spoke with the neurologist last week. He stated her EEG and MRI were normal. He ended up given her the diagnosis of developmental delay. Her IQ is good. She is just going to have to have help when learning new things. Whereas she has autism traits, she does not have enough to meet a diagnosis. She also has OCD tendencies and has sensory issues. She will continue with speech until most likely December (her speech teacher said she is close to dismissing her). We will continue working with her with problem eating. She will also continue with Physical therapy for sensory issues. I am not sure how long she will continue that, but she just started a few weeks ago. We just paid all of our deductible with the EEG and MRI so we will only owe 10% on each visit so that will help money wise. We pay out of pocket for speech. She was put on risperidone to help with her moods and meltdowns. We already see an improvement. She is also less wiggly when trying to learn something with this medication. Now, we go back to trying to get the school to do something for her since she was denied. We are happy with the diagnosis.

EEG and MRI

So this week, Monkey had her EEG and MRI. Since the doctor was running late, and he is the one that gives the sedation medication, the nurse tried to give Monkey her EEG without the sedation. Since the sedation would last so much longer than the MRI medication, this was a good thing. Monkey hated it, but she did much better than we would have thought. The nurse took it slow. She stopped many times. We watched the movie Frozen, and the nurse did not wrap her head since she has sensory issues. 

When it came time for the MRI, two nurses came in and gave Monkey her IV. It was very scary for her, but the nurses did awesome at it. They were so quick, and wrapped her hand in bright colorful tape and left her alone for a while afterwards. We watched more Frozen. They even bought her some matching cards that she loved. We had bought her a new Pinky Pie Pony to give her right before the IV so she had something to focus on. Eventually, we took her to the MRI room, and she was given her meds. The medication took effect so quickly. It was scary to watch, but the doctor told us how she would react (facial expression and eyes) and how fast it would be. We were very thankful for his conversation. MRI took a little over 30 minutes and then she was carried in. She slept without moving for about 20 minutes. This child is never still even while sleeping so that was a little nerve wracking. After she woke up she had to drink some Gatorade to see how she was doing. We asked her before her meds what she wanted to do when we left and she said go to Chickfla. 

So after she was released, we took her to Chickfla. She could barely ate without believing she was going to throw up, poor kid, but she ate a bite here and there. She drank some sprite and then played slowly on the playground. We stayed a few hours. 

After we got home, she started to act more like herself and finished her chicken nuggets. Before the evening was over, she was snacking on everything. She was VERY hyper, but other than that, was fine. 

We will find out the results next week.

PT

Monkey has been to two PT sessions because she is sensory driven. Physical therapist is sure she has sensory processing disorder. She also was put in a compression vest with weights and wore it to speech. She never moved. I have never seen her this still in her lifetime. It was quite incredible. I am looking forward to seeing if she has the same response next week. If so, I think, I am going to take the chance and buy one for her. They are quite expensive. PT thinks it would help her sit and learn her letters since she still struggles with this. 

Next week, she has her EEG, and MRI tests. 

Halloween is coming. Both girls are excited, then we have the local Fair, and all our birthdays. Of course, Thanksgiving, Christmas parties and then Christmas. Love this time of the year. Whereas it is fun, it is more time for Monkey to get upset because of all the sights and noises. I am hoping since we are all trying to figure this out, that this year will be easier for her.

Sorry for the late update. We have been enjoying our summer. My eldest is back in school. We are so happy she still loves school and loves to learn. 

Monkey had all her testing from school. We received the results last week. She did not qualify at this time for special services. Once her neurologist gives her diagnosis, they will reevaluate her. We liked everyone at the school. We see how the process works, and have numbers to contact once she is done being evaluated with her neurologist. We know IQ wise, her IQ is good. Her issues are still behavioral. She scored low in adaptive and personal-social areas, but they said even though she was low average, it was not low enough without a diagnosis to receive services with the school system. We have known a few people that went through the same thing. Once the doctor stated a diagnosis, the school changed their decision.

Speech therapy has been such a blessing. Her speech is much clearer, and her problem eating is easily handled. She is trying new foods, still with resistance, but without all the drama, at least most of the time. She now LOVES barbecue chicken. (Happy dance)

She should start physical therapy soon for controlling her meltdowns. The physical therapist will show her how to help herself when her sensory issues are too much. 

She is scheduled for her first brain scan (EEG) at the end of October. 

Monkey is VERY excited, as is her sister, for all the new fun stuff coming up since it is finally hitting Fall. 

Recently I posted about My Buddy Tag. I am impressed. I put it on Monkey and we went to Chucke Cheese, and then to a Halloween store. The tag worked great especially in the Halloween store where she kept running away while I was helping her sister look for a costume. As soon as she started to go to the back of the store, my phone would go off and show me she was out of range. I could then bring her back. I watched her a few times do this and again, the Buddy Tag immediately showed me she was out of range. My only complaint was it was hard to put on. I bought the silicone one. I should have bought the Velcro one. 

Well, I think that is all on the updates.

Locator bracelet

So on Zulily today, they were selling My Buddy Tags. My Buddy Tags' website is here. I ended up ordering one since the price ($24.99) was lower than normal ($39.99). Basically this bracelet uses our smartphones Bluetooth to help locate your child if he or she wanders off. It also has an alarm if your child is in the water. Most GPS locating bracelets need a monitoring fee plus the outrageous price of the bracelet, but with My Buddy Tags, you only buy the bracelet and then download the free app to monitor your child. 

This would be neat when on vacation, at the zoo, playground or a big birthday party. We have been fortunate to not have lost our young child, but I like the idea of having this on her wrist as an added precaution. 

I look forward to updating later once I receive the bracelet.  Does anyone own one? 

School meeting

We met with the school. They agreed she qualifies for testing. She will begin with that in August when the nurses return to start testing her vision and hearing. Then other tests will follow.

She had her second speech therapy appointment. The speech therapist performed another test on her and then started working with her problem eating. My little monkey got highly upset and cried, ran around the room, tried to leave, would not look at the food, rocked, sucked her fingers, and screamed. Just looking at food, she hates, freaks her out. She was told to state she would not care for that instead of I hate that. Last night, we put broccoli on the table just for her to see. She looked at it a few times, but did not freak out. At one point, I asked her if she wanted to try a bite, she avoided my eyes, and stated, “I do not care for that.” Much nicer dinner! As much as I hated to see her upset, I already see progress.

Update after seeing Speech Therapist

We enjoyed speech therapy. She was nervous at first, but she finally warmed about half way in. She enjoyed the testing. She is missing some sounds. She is a problem eater, not a picky eater. Since insurance will not pay, and her speech is not too far behind, we are going to go once a week and work on a few problems. She will give me some ideas for home so the whole family can work with her. She is also going to help when she sees negative behaviors by reinforcing positive ones. I feel really good about this.

I am also going to make her a picture schedule to help her not have so much anxiety about what we are always doing each day. Speech therapist was the second person to recommend this.  

A little funny: Monkey was being asked her body parts by the speech therapist: "Where is your forehead?" Monkey pointed to her neck, then looked at the speech therapist and exclaimed: "I only have one head!"

Speech therapist evaluation

Today, we are seeing a speech therapist for an evaluation.  We saw the pediatric neurologist, and he wanted her to be evaluated by a speech therapist. After she had a social and physical evaluation, he ordered a bunch of testing, which will begin in October due to the only clinic being able to sedate a small child is booked up until then. He does suspect autism spectrum, but she still needs more testing before we are sharing that with everyone. (not many of my friends read my blog so I am still putting it on here to maybe connect with others that have been through this). For my friends that read this blog, please just keep this to yourself now as we go through this journey and find out more as we are trying not to worry our family right now. She is still the same child and we know that she will be excepted by them, but we do not want them worrying until we have all the information and testing done. We know something is going on as we are with her all the time. We still have a long ways until a diagnosis. There still could be other things going on besides autism or with autism especially since she is verbal and pretty social. She shows autistic traits, but not in the "classical" or "what most people know about autism...nonverbal or in their own world". There are many different degrees and not any one child is the same. We will do whatever we need to for her. Sadly, so far insurance has been a joke. They will not pay for any kind of therapy. 

We will meet with the school system next week for an evaluation. So we are hoping for some kind of help there. If they will take over speech therapy (If they believe it is needed), then we will not have to pay for it. That will help us out a lot and leave money for other therapies. We are also hoping to get her in the atypical preschool program (again school system has to approve it). She would attend half a day (she could not handle more than that so it is perfect for her). 

Anyhow, this is where we are right now. More questions answers soon at least with the school. 

New Journey ....not one anyone wants

We have started the process to have monkey (our 4yo) tested with the school system. Yesterday, I took her to her pediatrician to talk to him. She hasn’t been sick in a long while so it was time to just talk to him about her slow learning and quirky behaviors. He was going to have her hearing tested even though she seemed fine, but the machine was broken. He said we will do that at another time. We were referred to a pediatrician neurologist for early July. Our pediatrician believes she needs some type of behavior therapy. We all see sensory issue problems, but he believes there may be some autism traits. I filled out new milestone forms and her old ones were pulled and scored. Whatever is going on, he believes it is not “bad” or severe, but needs to be figured out. After the neurologist, we will be sent to a Developmental Clinic to test her for many different things. Besides the behaviors, she does not learn as fast as other kids.

Why would a stay at home mom want an Apple Watch?

So why would a stay at home mom want an Apple Watch? Here are MY reasons:

1. I do not always have pockets to carry my iphone around the house (our cell phone is our landline). I am bad about moving my iphone room to room and forgetting where I placed it. The apple watch will ping my iphone if I misplace it even if it is on silent so I can find it. Also, no more running around the house wondering where the iphone is when I hear it ring (I am hard of hearing so I cannot always figure out which direction sound is coming from). By the time, I find the phone, I have already missed the call. Since you can ping your iphone, I do wonder, can you ping your watch from your iphone? I think this would be really great when you are out with your child, maybe a very crowded fair or circus. Why? You could put the watch on your child as added security. If your child is out of your sight, ping your watch. I do wonder how loud the ping is, and if the watch does have this feature, maybe it will be more like the find your iphone feature but that one has GPS. So that may only be in the second generation of this watch. 
2. Grocery shopping: I can keep my shopping list on the watch instead of my iphone. I hate to keep pulling my iphone out of my purse when I am in the store. Apple Pay is very useful too. I use Apple Pay on my phone but NOT taking it out of my purse would be great especially when keeping up with my kids. Some apps, such as Target’s, will let me know when I am getting close to an item on my list when using the Target app.
3. Keeping time of course. How many times have I taken my iphone out of my purse or pocket to only tell the time?? More times, haha, than I can count.
4. When the school nurse calls to tell me my kid is sick, I will know immediately that she is calling instead of missing the call. I can also take that call on my watch if my iphone is not handy.
5. Whereas, I am not into fitness as much as I should be, I would really like to take advantage of the fitness app. I love the idea of keeping up with my heart rate. I had some heart rate issues a while back and this would be great to keep up with it and show my process to my doctor. I like knowing I can see how active I am, and will get reminders to move around. I would love to believe I would get in better shape with this watch, but until I receive one, I do not know. I am really curious about this.
6. Once my little one starts kindergarten, I will be back in the work force, at least part-time. I feel more comfortable knowing that the watch will notify me of calls and messages. Not all jobs will allow you to carry your phone around and since I only have to have my phone within a certain distance (Bluetooth, from searching online, suggests about 30 feet or more, and the watch will use Wi-Fi if the company I works for has it), my watch will help me stay in touch. Also, when my phone vibrates, it is loud. I need it loud because I do not always feel it, and I found the loudest setting has a better vibration. The apple watch will vibrate (Taptic) on my wrist quietly where only I know something is going on. Then I can discreetly look at it and decide if I need to response. I feel I will be less anxious starting back in the work force with the Apple watch, and will not bug my coworkers with my loud vibrating iphone.
7. I love listening to music on my iphone. It is nice to know I can with the watch.
8. I use Siri so much to ask her questions. I LOVE that Siri is so useful on the watch. From directions, dictating, calculating, setting alarms, calling, etc.
9. I use many alarms! From getting the kids up to making sure I make it on time to any appointments that are scheduled. I hate to be late. It is nice to have those reminders and alarms right on my wrist, and having the ability to change them. It will be great to have my timer on my wrist too when I am cooking.
10.  Weather. Who doesn’t check the weather? I love the watch faces with the weather right on the face. I am excited about that. We receive a lot of rain so it would be nice to have an idea about what hour the rain is coming today!
11.  I am horrible at remembering to take my medications. Walgreens and other health related apps will have a medication reminder with information about your medication. Sure, I can still set a reminder in my calendar or alarms, but I am interested in trying this out.
12.  I keep my iphone locked. After all, I have little ones. I love knowing that I will not have to find my iphone and then unlock it. I can just look at watch for information I need. It also makes me wonder if my iphone will last longer using it less? I know that the Apple Watch will use the iphone to run certain apps, but it just seems if I am using the iphone less, than the battery and iphone will last a longer time. I am curious about this.

So there you have it why I would LOVE to own an Apple Watch. I know others will enjoy storing flight info, controlling your Apple TV and things like that, but we hardly travel, and I do not have an Apple TV. You just have to see if there is a reason for you to have this watch. Sadly, my funds are low so I do not see an Apple Watch in my near future. I am hoping the prices drop before Christmas. Hey, I can hope, right? I love technology. Just love it. I normally do not buy first generation items, but I would love to own this one.

I do wish the watch was more affordable especially being a first-generation device. No way, I can afford a second watch band without buying a third-party band later. I really do not mind charging it each night because I charge my iphone anyhow. I HATE that the nearest Apple store is nearly 2 hours away. I wish the watch was being sold at other stores such as Best Buy. I am hoping in the future that will be what will happen. It would be nice to try one on in person and to see the watch. I will have to depend on someone I know buying one. I need the 38mm as I have a very small wrist.

Are you going to buy one, wait for the second-generation or pass all together?