#lifewithdill

Hey Readers!

I haven't blogged in awhile! I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, and I think I picked a great time. For those of you reading for the first time, feel free to browse through my old posts. Here's the cliffnotes version of all things ME!

a. Married 7 years (yay)
b. 2 kids (Dari-7, and Dilly-3)
c. I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist...and yes, we have ways of making you speak!
d. Lover of all things language and literacy

Ok, now that we're all caught up, I want to dedicate this post to my youngest son, Dylan Michael. Dylan just turned 3 on 3/8. I can't believe my baby boy is 3! Our family just wasn't complete until Dylan came around. We just love of our baby cocoa bean. However, Dylan can be challenging. Is he the reason I no longer want a 3rd child? Absolutely! He is a full-time job! Still, we just deal with it. We accept Dylan for who he is.

Right after Dylan turned 2, I decided to have him evaluated for Early Intervention services. For those of you unfamiliar with E.I, here is a link: http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/ei-overview/  . My primary concern was expressive/receptive language deficits. Expressive language is the words that we speak. Receptive language is how well we understand spoken/written language. I also had some behavioral concerns. Although, I felt the inability to convey wants/needs was manifesting into undesirable behaviors.  Ok so Dylan was denied E.I. He didn't meet the 33% delay needed to qualify for services. However, I knew he needed services, so I pursued private Speech therapy services.

Over the past year, Dylan has made progress. More in the expressive language than anything else. However, there are red flags that I cannot ignore. Being a clinician, I'm always trying to make sure I'm not creating a problem that isn't there. It's very different when it's your child. I couldn't see the bigger picture. I don't particularly care for labels, but Dylan was showing red flags for Autism. I began speaking to my hubby about it when Dilly was about 2 1/2. I wasn't 100% sure because Autism isn't my specialty area(although it will be now!), and he has so many great skills. Here are some red flags I noticed in Dill

a. fleeting eye contact
b. paralell play- no desire to play with classroom peers
c. difficulty with transitions/changes in schedule
d. sensitivity to crowds
e. echolalia- repeating back words/whole phrases

Fast forward to Dilly being 2.10 years old, and we begin the process of getting him CPSE services. CPSE=Committee for Preschool Special Education. After being screwed over for services once, I decided to take Dylan to a Neurologist to get him a formal ASD(Autism Spectrum Disorders) diagnosis. Why? It will help make it easier to get the services he needs. Although I knew by then that he was on the spectrum, having it said out loud by a professional was...difficult. I felt like someone knocked the wind out of me. Like most parents of children with special needs, we think about quality of life. Will my son be able to care for himself as an adult? The best thing I can do is fight for him to get everything he is entitled to.

Why blog about it? I feel in the Black community, we often think " he will grow out of it", or "I don't know why the teacher says he needs help". We're even embarrased to have a child with special needs. I think we often forget that under that umbrella term of "Special Needs" is Gifted and Talented. We all learn differently. I want to take back to control that term has on us. These services are here, and no one is using them. When in doubt, check it out!

Sharon

P.S. Feel free to comment with questions/comments