Justin's Story Part 2

Justin turned 3 at the end of July and we started him in Preschool at the end of August.  We thought that Justin would enjoy the interaction with other children his age, and was hoping it would help his speech.  A small Catholic Preschool came highly recommended – I met with the Preschool Director and discussed Justin’s “situation” at length.  She assured me they would work with us, and do anything they could to make this a positive experience for Justin.  I don’t think they knew what they were getting themselves into.  I must admit I was worried he would get tired with such a full week.  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday’s he had speech therapy, and Tuesday and Thursday mornings for three hours he would have preschool.  Justin was in Preschool for 5 LONG weeks; we learned a lot about Justin during this difficult time.   His demeanor and behavior started changing again.  He became angry and frustrated, and “meltdowns” were becoming a constant.  His behavior changed so drastically it scared me.  He even refused to go into Helen’s office for his speech therapy, something he has ALWAYS loved.  After 5 weeks we decided to take him out of Preschool and within 2 weeks he was my loving adorable little boy again.  Taking him out of preschool was incredibly hard for me, I felt like I failed him.  I also started thinking that if he couldn’t handle Preschool, maybe he would never be able to “handle” school.  Once again I felt this disorder tearing me apart – I became depressed, angry, sad and confused all over again.

We decided to take Justin to a Neurologist to see what else, if anything, was going on with him.  This is the first medical Dr. we have been to who was WONDERFUL.   Instead of focusing on what Justin’s weaknesses were – he focused on his strengths.  In his opinion Justin is in the “Autistic Spectrum”, although his Speech Therapist and most recently his Developmental Pediatrician disagree.  His neurologist also explained that Justin has high anxiety and obsessive behavior -  but with love, understanding and a lot of work, he will learn to cope.  Most importantly he told us that Justin is a happy, joyful little boy – who WILL be a productive member of society.  This is the first time someone has told us that -  I was walking in the clouds when we left.  We also took Justin to see a Developmental Pediatrician, and what a blessing she was.   I highly recommend every child, especially those with special needs, see a Dev. Pediatrician.  She examined him physically and developmentally, and he enjoyed the entire 2 hours – AMAZING!!!  She discovered he has low muscle tone in his upper body.  This is something that needs to remedied, otherwise it can interfere with his writing skills.  She also talked a lot about his sensory’s and in her opinion he needs some sensory integration.  She suggested that he start going to an Occupational Therapist.   An OT can work on his muscle tone, his sensory integration, his oral hypersensitivity, his anxiety, and help him cope with transitions.   We will begin Occupational Therapy in the beginning of 2001, I do not want to rush into something new during the holidays.  In the meantime, we will continue to work hard – but most importantly we will continue to laugh and enjoy one another.