diagnosis

I took Max to a developmental pediatrician today to have him evaluated. He is doing fantastic and is a completely different child than he was a year and a half ago, but I wanted to make sure he is ready for kindergarten. As much as I dislike labels, I knew he would need one in order to qualify for accommodations in the public school system. I didn't want to send him out into the jungle without help if he needed it.

I had been stewing over the pages and pages of paperwork and surveys, making J-P re-read everything I wrote to make sure I answered everything appropriately. I didn't sleep all night and had a huge stomach ache in anticipation of what they might tell me. And let me say that I was caught completely off-guard by what they diagnosed him with.

After two hours of intense examination, interviewing, testing, etc. the doctor looked at me and said, "I can tell you are worried about Asperger's. I will tell you right now that he doesn't have it. I don't even have to add everything up to tell you that he isn't even close to having it." She proceeded to tell me that he is nowhere close to having anything autism related. At least not anymore. And she explained why in great detail. Which I appreciated.

After calming my autism fears, she changed the subject. She mentioned that he was exhibiting lots of facial tics. She said upon first glance she could tell that he had them, and he continued to have them throughout the whole two hour exam. "Oh, you mean how he squints his right eye and grimaces? He only does that when he is nervous, anxious, or upset," I replied. She seemed very concerned and continued to grill me about different tics, and tried to uncover any vocal tics he might have. I told her that a lot of people in my family have facial tics, like my brother, aunt, grandma, great-grandma, etc. I had no idea it was a big deal. She quizzed me about every person's tic, and I did my best to mimic them while she recorded it furiously on her paper.

In the end, she diagnosed Max with a tic disorder. She explained that some people's brains are just wired that way. Unfortunately, people with tic disorders are especially prone to OCD and anxiety, which explains why Max had such a hard time with those things when he was little. Her recommended treatment was fish oil, magnesium, and B vitamins. She was very impressed that I was already giving him all of those things, and even more impressed that I knew about and was giving him inositol. Apparently it has proven very effective in treating OCD/anxiety. One thing I also learned is that tics are very common in people with ADD, which luckily Max does not have (knock on wood).

The pediatrician said that he is above average developmentally. His skills are on par with a five-and-a-half-year-old (he won't be five until the middle of June), so he is definitely ready for kindergarten. And that was even after he got docked several points for drawing a duck when the doctor instructed him to draw a person. He thought it was the funniest thing ever and couldn't stop giggling.