Dr. Whoever went well

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-28-2004
Dr. Whoever went well
1
Tue, 06-26-2007 - 3:49pm

Dear Boardies,

Thanks for your support.

Well, DH and I met with a psychologist. I frankly have never felt like anyone "got" my son and my take on him so quickly. She had already seen him at school, and I was afraid that she would be along the "I just don't see it..." lines. But she was not. She listened to DH and I discribe touching and kissing behavior, and she felt that he should be able to control that by 3 or so, not to still be doing it at nearly 6. She also compared our stories of his interactions with school (where he doesn't interact with peers by her observation) and home (where his interactions are inappropriate) and seemed to agree that he was not doing "better" at school, where he is good as gold but doesn't interact with peers, and she seemed to understand my assertion that helping him with his interaction skills with his brother and friend down the street would give him skills he could bring to school, because if his first forays into interactions are similar to his peer relationships at home, his peers will certainly reject him. Tomorrow afternoon she is going to see my sons together at home.

I never once got a "you are obviously not intervening appropriately" feeling from her. And trust me, my nerve for that feeling is pretty sensitive.

In our brief meeting, she also quickly grasped that something is "off" about him being on grade level. She said with all of his support, he should really be ahead, and asked a couple of questions trying to ascertain if there were memory, attention and/or processing problems. She asked some questions about his Kumon work, and was actually the first person to ever validate that choice (of bringing him to Kumon). She seemed to think that the Kumon method was a good fit for some ASD kids, and she felt that it was similar to a method used at an ASD school for children who are behind grade level. This is incredible, because it seems to be a good grasp of my son as I understand it, and it is NOT at all my son as the school understands him. They seem to think that he is doing wonderfully because he knows the kindergarten curriculum, in spite of the fact that it is not really a big leap from what he knew going in. She gave me a good idea to help my son with his Kumon work (based on that other school whose name I have forgotten).

This is interesting, because my son's lawyer asked me if I was sending my son to Kumon because he needs it and the school is not providing it.

But, processing is not the reason she was sent; she was primarily sent to document the need (or lack of need) for a family trainer. I really feel that she will "get" my guy. If that comes across in her reports, I will feel heard out if nothing else.

-Sidney

APOV on Autism
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2006
Tue, 06-26-2007 - 3:57pm

Yea!!! Glad to see it went to well for you guys!

Lainie