Chase's Speech Appointment

We had Chase's first speech appointment last night (finally). It was mainly an evaluation for him. She wasn't able to get through all the tests with him because he was too excited to play with the "new" toys in the room and didn't want to sit still. She told us she definitely saw a delay with him but she can tell that he is curious about learning. She would like him to see an Occupational Therapist once a week as well as her (the Speech Therapist). She also wants us to set up an appointment with a Developmental Pediatrician to get him assessed and diagnosed with whatever might be wrong with him. From her personal opinion and her experience in being around these types of children for so long, she said she could definitely see signs of ADD in him. She said there is a possibility of a Sensory Disorder, but very little signs of autism. But he does have a couple slight autistic traits. Unfortunately there are only two in Tucson right now and they are both partners. I hear it's very hard to get in there. Please pray that we get him in as soon as possible. We would like to get most of his treatment finished by the time he is 3. Once he is 3, we will have to go through the school district, which I prefer not to do since this place seems so great! I'm hoping we can work something out with our insurance though.

We also told her our concerns with him having possible food allergies and she felt that we were on the right track there. She said food allergies can affect behaviors a lot. And with his Eczema we should definitely look further into it. We plan on doing a food elimination diet once we get our taxes back. Now the problem is getting a referral from the Pediatrician. Last time I asked for a referral, they made me bring him in before they did anything. When I told the doctor that I wanted to get Chase tested for allergies, he asked me why. Seriously?! He knows Chase has had Eczema since he was two months old and he's also aware that allergies run VERY strong on both sides of the family. Why the heck would you NOT want to get him tested. I really hope that they don't want me to bring him in again just so I can get the referral. What would be the point really? They are already aware of possible allergies AND they are aware that he isn't speaking as well as he should. What are they going to tell us that we don't already know? Sorry, I've been getting pretty frustrated with this doctor and the doctor's office lately....if you couldn't tell.

Anyway, so that's the gist of the appointment. I really hope that this will help him and that will be able to learn like he should.