Sooo.....Today.

We've had a challenging summer of evaluations and appointments in regards to Hayden's development. We've felt helpless and frustrated at many times, and hopeful and composed at others. The culmination of 10 months of many different types of tests, evaluations and second opinions, came today when Hayden was formally diagnosed with a moderate form of Autism. It's a diagnosis that we knew was more of a possibility than not, however, it's never easy hearing that something is 'not right' with your child. We believed that Hayden had a very mild form of something within the realms of the Autism Spectrum, but her assessments scores have determined she's moderate, but she will be classified as mild to moderate. She was initially qualified as fitting within the spectrum of Asperger's (high functioning Austism), but further diagnostics have showed that she classifies in the Autism spectrum. What does this mean? This means that Hayden will now under go an evaluation from the state...the DDD (same system that Taylor is in). They will have to approve her diagnosis and then she will be picked up for services. Now, of course, that's all in a perfect world! We've had some major hiccups and set backs along this road, so we know that it's not that cut-n-dry. But, regardless it will lead to her having access to every type of therapy you can possibly imagine to help her maintain in the world that she revolves in! They (her teams of specialists, Ped. and Conal and I) are all really optimistic and pretty sure that she's going to overcome many of her challenges. There is no cure for Autism, however...with early intervention and the proper support and guidance she can learn how manage her struggles in ways that are amazing! As you can see, we are realists, but we also have high expectations of this little sweetie. She's doing reallly well at her school and they'd like us to put her into a special ed. preschool through the district. We were not impressed with the program in terms of the needs that she has, but will look into it again. I also think that she's just blossoming at her school, where she's comfortable, and with a class of only 8, they're able to help her immensely. I would hate to take her out of there. So, I'm not rushing into that. We will take each step one at a time and start with getting her the State eval. My ultimate goal is to get her into L.I.F.E for her treatments. It is also believed that Hayden has either a form of ADHD or OCD...but that will be determined at a later date. They will see how she responds to her treatments and therapies before evaluating a further cause. However, those can generally be contained with a medication. Not that that's a good thing...however, if you've walked in our shoes, you'll know how breathtaking it is to be getting answers....