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March 23, 2009

Lil Man .....

A few months back, I was approached by the owner of the daycare/pre-school I send little man to and was told that he has a few "issues", and that I should get him tested for any learning disabilities.
I am all for early detection and working to solve the "issue".
I already know that he has language/speech problems.
He has spent the majority of his life at home, with no other kids to interact with.
It 's only been since we moved up here and he started school that he's had a daily dose of
NOT being the center of attention and getting what he wants, when he wants it.
You tell me how a three year old would react?

As I said, I already had concerns about his speech, so I figured that a full evaluation would be good.
It would help point to any other "issues" my child may be facing.
I mean, I already moved him away from his Daddy and everything he already knew as home, so some problems are bound to arise.
Kids are resilient ..... usually.
But sometimes, they have a real hard time.
Lil Man did.

So, between three separate meetings, he was seen by no less than 5 therapists and 2 psychologists. Their verbal opinions at the time varied greatly.
Except for a few things.
My son will do things when HE'S good and damn ready to.
Period.
He digs in his heels or he tries to deflect the request by acting cute and being a clown.
I have no illusions, he comes by all these wonderful traits quite honestly.
Anyway, the day that we had the BIG evaluation, he awoke in a foul mood and was quite literally, a real pain in the ass ALL DAY.
He was more defiant and ornery than normal.
At one point, the one therapist asked him to identify a few objects in a book and he looked at her and said, "no". He then took off and played with a few other things. After about 10 minutes or so, he walked over, grabbed her book, opened it to the page she had had it on and then proceeded to point out and name every single object she had asked of him earlier.
Needless to say, the therapist was a bit stunned.
I'm used to it.

The whole evaluation went on like this for about an 1 1/2 hours.
My son was a BEAR by the time they were done with him.
Now, maybe my logic and reasoning are askew, but I don't think a proper
assessment could have been obtained when 5 different people are pulling asking him to do things and vying for his attention.
But hey, wtf do I know .... I'm only a parent.
THESE people are professionals.

I received the preliminary reports of his evaluation and their recommendations in the mail.
I opened up the envelope and started reading.
Word after word, line after line, page after page.
I was in tears within minutes.
According to their evaluation, my son has the mentality of a two year old.
Barely.
I sat there and let it all sink in as I tried to wrap my head around their findings.
It didn't add up.
My son knows all his colors, shapes, letters and several 3 letter sight words.
He can count to 50 on his own and knows basic math (1+1=2).
He has phenomenal eye/hand coordination and can operate a computer like no other 3 year old I've ever seen. (Yes, my son can, and does know how to open a browser and search for websites ..... he goes to YouTube on his own regularly AND he knows how to find Boxers videos .... )
So, the more I thought about it all, the more pissed off I got.
My child may not have a stellar vocabulary, but he's far more advanced socially and otherwise than a 2 year old!

We have our official meeting this coming Thursday to discuss the findings and address his needs. According to the reports, he needs speech/language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy and it has been recommended he see a psychologist to address his emotional needs.
Can you hear the thunder yet?
Yes, that will be ME letting loose on these people.
I don't agree with their findings.
Yes, he does need some help ..... but to say he needs all that?
No.
He's three .... soon to be four.
As I said, I am all for helping my son and doing what I can to help him become his best, but at what cost?

Maybe i'm just being too much of a Mom.

1 Comments:

At 3/24/09, 12:36 AM , Blogger Buffalo said...

It's bullshit, baby girl. Stand your ground.

 

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