Mr. Sillypants and the Awesome OT

So, the Farmington Schools Evaluation...
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 It didn't quite go the way I expected.

We start off in his room and we are greeted by 2 evaluators, an Occupational Therapist and a Psychotherapist. They start asking us questions, and as more people start trickling in, we have to repeat ourselves. This isn't a big deal, but it is a sign that maybe not everything isn't as it should be.

Now, I have to say, the OT was fabulous. She was on the floor with Caleb, interacting with him, watching his eye movements and motor skills, while other people were half-heartedly throwing Caleb an attention bone every now and again. There was supposed to be a speech therapist present, which is the whole reason we had to be there on this specific day, and I don't even remember hearing from one. Considering that Caleb's lack of verbal ability is our main concern, this was, well, disconcerting.

The School Psychologist, was, how do I put this... an ass. Right away he had a domineering attitude, as if he were going to control the evaluation single-handedly. He right away stated the necessary qualifications for an autism diagnosis, and they were very strict. And with everything we presented, he explained it away with, "well, he is 2 years old." Seriously? Cause I don't know any other 2 year olds to compare him to?

I think the Psychologist forgot that autism is a spectrum, and just because my child doesn't look like the picture you have in your head, it doesn't mean he isn't autistic. I have already gotten the diagnosis from 2 other evaluations, and now that my family has just come to grips with it, after watching my child for 15 minutes, this guy is going to tell us that we are all wrong and that he is just slightly delayed in his development.

A delay in his development doesn't explain his spinning, playing with his spit, lack of eye contact, lack of response to verbal stimuli, mouthing of objects, inability to spend more than 5 seconds with a single activity, inability to sit still so I can read him a book, desire to play alone or just be alone, horrific meltdowns when he gets a haircut, etc etc etc.  Let's not even mention his sensory processing disorders.

The good part is that even though Mr. Sillypants Psychologist doesn't think Caleb is autistic, it doesn't matter; Caleb still qualifies for their Early On services. He will get 1 hour a week at home and 1 hour a week at school; his time will consist of speech/language therapy and OT, just like at The Kaufman Center.  The therapy at the center will be with a couple other children around his age and ability level, which I think will be great for Caleb!  I am super excited for him!

As I previously stated, I really liked the OT, and I mentioned such to her. I asked her to be Caleb's therapist, and she said she doesn't control it, but rather kids get placed based upon which school is closest to you, and she works out of a different one. Her normal school is very close to me, so I will very much push for her. Caleb really liked her and so did I; she was smart and in tune with Caleb.

So, in short: There are stupid people, but there are also good people. Here is hoping we get to see more of the good people.