Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is having a great night. We have settled in because of all of the snow and ice that has hit our fine state of Tennessee. We had to venture out this morning for Sir Dantes' final evaluation for the Tennessee Early Intervention Program.

We almost canceled due to the impending winter storm, but knowing how hard it is to get the appointments at Vanderbilt, we changed our minds. We had to be there at eight this morning. Luckily we made it home before the 18 car pileup at our usual exit off of the interstate. Whew!

Follow up:

Anyway, Sir Dantes had his first evaluation when he was about 18 months old. At that time he was given a "provisional" diagnosis of autism. Due to his young age they did not want to label him wrong. Well, to a parent (or at least me) it was like saying, "Well, he could be autistic or maybe he is just mentally retarded and weird.". We needed to wait and let him have therapy to be sure.

Well, I already knew. Luckily, during my years at Middle Tennessee State University, I had worked for a semester at Project H.E.L.P., which is a research school for children with delays. Because of this I saw the signs very early in Sir Dantes. But, i digress.

I really appreciate the fact that the fine doctor at Vanderbilt did not want to label him at such an early age. If he was wrong then Sir Dantes would have quite a time overcoming such a label. But at the same time, it made this evaluation nerve racking.

What if he still felt that he was to young to be classified as autistic? Then our hopes of ever getting any continued help would be very limited. Then he may be just some weird and not so smart kid lost in the system.

So, anticipation ran high and this meeting was so important to us and to our son. So we braved the impending weather and went. And, to our not-so-much surprise, Sir Dantes is officially autistic. What a happy day!

Don't get me wrong. I would not ever wish for any parent to have the burden of having an autistic child. Lord knows that it is difficult enough just having children. But, now more services and avenues are available to us to help him. We may be able to get him into a place called the Feltz Center. They accept TennCare and provide services such as speech and occupational therapies. Without an official diagnosis he couldn't get in. He still may not be able to because so many children need help, but he has a chance and it will be covered.

We can also apply for his S.S.I to help pay for any services/ therapies he may need in the future. It can also help him if he is never able to provide for himself. Also, his dear father may be able to benefit by receiving a "paycheck" from the government because he is the one who stays home and oversees all of his care and therapies.

He will also be able to receive services from the public school system if we choose. We are home-schooling, but now he can go to the schools for speech and other services.

So, a good day and a good evaluation. And by the way, I learned something else I wish to share. You can not have a child that is autistic and then be reclassified as an Aspie. The reason why is the development of speech.

I have met a lot of parents who say, "Well he was autistic, but now he is an aspie." These children are very different and what makes them different is that they develop the use of verbal language normally. If your child is not speaking by the normal time frame (and in Sir Dantes' case, he is almost three and still has no words) and is autistic; he is autistic. It is not a dirty word. Just because a child is autistic does not mean they can not develop a form of communication and learn. So, take that to heart and embrace your autistic child.

Sherri