Little Bear is currently in an Early Intervention program through the state. His birthday is in August and he will be turning 3, aging out of his program. He is expected to start a public school pre-K program at that point. Big Bear was in a similar program for neurotypical kids because he wasn’t speaking and has some social issues and he really blossomed when he began school. We’ve been waiting excitedly for Little Bear to reach this point.
Little Bear wants to start school desperately. His brother is in a summer camp program at a local Catholic church, which we call Solcito Camp. He calls church Solcito. I don’t know. We just roll with it. Anyway, every time we go to pick him up, Little Bear runs into the room and starts playing with the toy kitchen. Today we went in and they were having a dance party. Little Bear just started getting down. He was stomping, singing, dancing, and having an awesome time. His hardcore home schooling and therapy has helped him a great deal over the last few months, but he really does miss the atmosphere of school and being around other children.
We got to his transition meeting earlier than expected because I picked up the wrong paper from my mailbox. I thought it was at 8, but it was really at 9. For some reason they had a translator there for me, but I gave her up for another family whose translator was running late and was in desperate need of someone to help out with their twins.
Little Bear was his regular self during the evaluation. He talked a little bit, but not much. He played, used his social smile, but didn’t always follow directions. Getting him to stay on task was a challenge. Getting him to say two word phrases besides “I want” was not happening. However, within five minutes of the evaluation beginning, the psychologist and developmental specialist both said, “Look, we can’t diagnose your child. Also, we should let you know that none of this information will be shared with your medical provider unless you choose to share it, but we personally do not think your son’s final diagnosis will be ASD. We see a lot of children come through here with an ASD diagnosis and if your son is on the spectrum, he is very high functioning. We’re not saying he’s not autistic. We’re not saying he’s where he should be. We’re still filling out the forms for the autism class evaluation, but we do not expect that he will be placed in an ASD classroom. He just doesn’t fit the criteria of the other children who are placed there and he most likely wouldn’t improve as quickly as he would in other rooms.”
Papi Bear wasn’t with me for the evaluation – he had to attend a conference out of town – but when I told him over the phone later on, he was thrilled. He said I had made his entire week. Little Bear’s diagnosis has always been difficult for him to deal with because of cultural differences. It has been compounded by the fact that he usually performs better in the mornings and he only really sees him in the afternoons after he’s worn out from 6-8 hours of therapy a day. This made him feel like his child has more possibilities to reach his potential. I think Papi Bear still has trouble grasping the idea that autism doesn’t mean Rainman or rocking in the corner. I think he also carries personal fears that he may be autistic and, therefore, the cause of his son’s neurological differences.
And that’s where we are now. Our next meeting is on August 8th, four days before Little Bear’s 3rd birthday. We’ll find out what school and classroom he’ll be assigned to. Fingers crossed that he gets a full day schedule and that they let his ABA therapist go in to see him at school.
That Would Be Enough 