When we first started this blog we were focusing on the GF/CF diet. But after 52 days we seem to have the diet down. The fact that the medical profession thinks that this diet is one step above witch doctors is amazing to us. We know that this diet does not work for everyone but not giving it a try or having any serious medical studies seems insane to us. I guess if they have a study that shows that this works, then there must be a cause of Autism besides genetics. Most parents get over the why of Autism fairly quickly. Most people are practical and want to know what they can do now to help their child. This diet, while difficult at first, has been a life saver for both us and our family.
In this blog we seem to be doing more of a combination of diet and trials of having an Autistic child. Our new trial is Occupational Therapy. Ryan was tested in October and found to have a 12% delay. He was re-tested in May and found to have more than two standard deviations below the mean in several areas. Yet at our annual review our school district is telling us that since Ryan is only having OT for six weeks there is no way to show regression in skills. This being the case, they will not authorize therapy over the summer but will pick it up in September. To us this seems crazy. If his lack of skills went from 12% to over 25% in six months, how does this not show regression in skills? We know that New York State changed the rules and that school districts are now required to pay a percentage of costs for pre-school services. This is a new rule and districts are scrambling to find ways to cut costs. But what are the cost of these savings? So we are now consulting an attorney and going that route. As educators we used to wonder why special education parents were so crazed when they got to the secondary level. Having only been a special education parent for a year, we have become those parents. We completely understand these parents now. Having to fight through all this bureaucratic insanity will make anyone crazy.
We will keep you updated.
PC
Showing posts with label OT evaluation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OT evaluation. Show all posts
Monday, June 7, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Day 34
Today we tried a new brand GF/CF cheese pizza for lunch. Ryan was not going to his therapeutic Nursery school and had to have lunch at his daycare facility. We were told that he like the pizza and ate most of the french bread and vegan cheese pizza for lunch.
We also received a call this evening from the person that is going to be giving Ryan his OT. When Ryan had is annual review Dawn was able to convince our school district to grant him OT twice a week for the remainder of the school year. The good part is that this person is able to be flexible and already has someone in Ryan's class at his daycare facility. Hopefully she will be able to meet with Ryan tomorrow.
With the end of the year coming so rapidly both Dawn and I are getting very stressed and we are all looking forward to the summer break.
PC
We also received a call this evening from the person that is going to be giving Ryan his OT. When Ryan had is annual review Dawn was able to convince our school district to grant him OT twice a week for the remainder of the school year. The good part is that this person is able to be flexible and already has someone in Ryan's class at his daycare facility. Hopefully she will be able to meet with Ryan tomorrow.
With the end of the year coming so rapidly both Dawn and I are getting very stressed and we are all looking forward to the summer break.
PC
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Day 18
As we were driving home today we realized that we have not had takeout since we started this GF/CF diet. We have to find places for us to order out food in case we run into times when making food at home is not a possibility. Ryan is doing so well on his diet that we are constantly getting reports of what a different child he has become and it is amazing.
Today Ryan was re-tested for OT and we have to wait for the official report. However, as Dawn was talking to the evaluator she was telling us that Ryan did such a great job of doing the activities. When she was interviewing his teachers they were telling her stories about how Ryan would not sit still, would not listen, or follow directions. When she was evaluating Ryan she was thinking that everyone was lying to her. Ryan did a fantastic job. He held her hand and walked her over to table where they could work. He followed directions and stayed on task for the testing. Before this diet Ryan had a very limited attention span. To hear that he sat through the entire test and followed directions is nothing short of miraculous. While he does have some areas that will need to be addressed with some OT therapy, he is showing improvement since his last OT evaluation six months ago.
PC
Today Ryan was re-tested for OT and we have to wait for the official report. However, as Dawn was talking to the evaluator she was telling us that Ryan did such a great job of doing the activities. When she was interviewing his teachers they were telling her stories about how Ryan would not sit still, would not listen, or follow directions. When she was evaluating Ryan she was thinking that everyone was lying to her. Ryan did a fantastic job. He held her hand and walked her over to table where they could work. He followed directions and stayed on task for the testing. Before this diet Ryan had a very limited attention span. To hear that he sat through the entire test and followed directions is nothing short of miraculous. While he does have some areas that will need to be addressed with some OT therapy, he is showing improvement since his last OT evaluation six months ago.
PC
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