So, today, a day that many have off as a holiday, I spent with 3 therapy appointments (OK - 1 cancelled and rescheduled for Wednesday) and a special ed. playtime that was a little too busy for my liking because many of us brought extra guests (other children, spouses, etc.) due to the vacation. Zach spent much of the class spinning around in circles, while I consoled Sophie as she didn't understand why none of the children were particularly good at sharing. One boy (maybe Downe's Syndrome) in particular seemed to want everything she was playing with and his parents were not the most attentive to his behavior.
We came home and Sophie insisted on watching Willie Wanka and the Chocolate Factory for the 5th time in 16 hours - yet another surprise gift by a terrific friend who has a lot on her plate with 3 kids under the age of 4 and a husband whose job takes him out of town a lot. We are so lucky to have such great friends.
Sophie's OT, who has been doing a great job with her, had a talk about her recommendations with me today. She believes Sophie is going to continue to require services if she goes to kindergarten. This will likely require a diagnosis of some sort because school districts usually require that in order to provide services (I believe that is a federal law - but am just looking into it.) I am wondering what kind of dx she would receive. The OT seemed to indicate that Sophie is not always the most socially aware - that other children in her class were sometimes confused by her behavior, and that she at times appeared to totally ignore the other children's requests and end up going off the play on her own when she didn't seem to understand the requests for mutual play. This is of course sending off flares to me as someone with a basic understanding of ASD criteria. Could Sophie have some sort of high functioning ASD? You gotta be kidding me. She is very bright, verbal, social, but yet has some obvious and frequent sensory issues, doesn't always appear to hear what I am saying, and doesn't understand some basic social rules or context. The OT will be calling the Special Ed. office in our school district to discuss. I had a brief discussion with Steve when he came home from work tonight, although I didn't mention the vague possibility of ASD, particularly PDD-NOS.
A recent situation has me particularly concerned: recently Sophie got into one of her moods and was very active. I encouraged her to jump into her bean bag chair to get some crashing out of her system and some pseudo-deep pressure. Well, she seemed to get even more spun up. At some point, I lay near the bean bag trying to ensure she wouldn't get hurt. Dumb dumb dumb dumb. Next thing you know she lands on my head, and I felt a crunch on my nose. There was blood everywhere. As I ran to the bathroom and called to Steve for help I thought - "she broke my nose for sure". Steve ran up to the bedroom and saw the blood everywhere. After he checked on me and got me ice, he began the massive cleanup. While cleaning up, Sophie said to Steve "Momma better not have gotten blood on my bean bag." I laugh at this now, but the lack of empathy/sympathy certainly does have me concerned.
Sophie has always had some strange obsessions and behavior. But what kid doesn't? When she was a toddler, her favorite toy were sticks. Anywhere we went she would pick up sticks and play with them. I recall a few neighbors commenting on Sophie and her sticks. She still has a thing for sticks. She evolved it a bit into straws for awhile: we would go to a restaurant and mandate from the waitress as many straws as she could finagle for herself. I remember Sophie insisting from a friends mom on a playdate for an orange straw that she recalled from prior visit. During all these evaluations with Zach we were constantly asked if Zach played with toys appropriately. He never seemed to do really strange things. When I asked them to define what this meant, I was surprised to realize they were describing much of how Sophie plays with her toys. I still think that some of this is bonk and that children who play with toys or non-toy objects as toys are merely more imaginative and creative - and I like it! This is how inventors are born. However, at Church Saturday night, I observed as Sophie separated and rearranged, several times, the monthly missiles with the music issues. She lined them up in 3 different configurations until she settled on one she appeared to like. I had never noticed this behavior before until I thought back to Sophie as a newly walking toddler getting into my pots and pans. I recall how she lined up the tops of my All Clad lids in sorted fashion from smallest to largest at just a bit over a year old over and over again. I remember thinking - wow - that seems sort of advanced or weird or something.
So now, I will likely try and get Sophie into the developmental pediatrician as well. A hearing screening is also likely in order. All because I noticed she wasn't writing well a year ago. *sigh* I thought I might be overzealous because of Zach - but I have had 2 professionals acknowledge that something is going on with her. I am contemplating some dietary interventions for her as well. Right now we are doing an OT brushing technique with joint compression, using chewing tubes to control oral fixations, and supplementing with fish oil. Some of you must be thinking I am a nutcase by now. No harm, no foul is my motto. Sophie is an incredible kid, and most likely most of you who know her are probably thinking that there is nothing going on with her. Alas, I am not overly anxious about her right now, however, I can certainly say that there are many people out there, professional and not, that would likely say she is certainly unique and has some interesting features. Boy do Steve and I have some crazy genes.
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