A family friend suggested we see a neurologist, thank god. My head was spinning with other things. The appointment was two months after the initial diagnosis, as I found out this is a short wait. We somehow randomly lucked out on where we live and have access to some of the best pediatric care in the country. We also lucked out with our pediatrician. She has the wait and see approach but with a little push she has some great connections and gets us right in the door. I found out later that a two month wait is nothing. Anyhow I’ve never seen a neurologist and didn’t know what they could tell us. Come to find out he really is the one that should be diagnosing my son. We got lucky, very lucky finding the right people at the right time.

So there we are on the way to see the neurologist. Again we perfectly timed the appointment so Patrick would be rested and at his best. Our EI provider accompanied us again. We knew the neurologist would re-diagnosis Patrick and that was that. Another gross underestimate in my head. I filled out a questionnaire before going in, only eight pages. The doctor brought us into the office. Patrick saw toys and couldn’t have been happier. The neurologist asked us a series of the same old questions. He watched Patrick play while he talked. He examined him for three minutes, basically having him play with toys. I think the whole meeting from start to finish was only fifteen minutes. Just long enough time to get another wakeup call and kick in the pants.

I had thought Patrick was high-functioning. Come to find out he is more typical with some major deficits. An EEG was scheduled for a week later to test for absent seizures. Twenty hours minimum of ABA was recommended. And DNA blood tests were ordered to check for abnormalities sometimes common in ASD children. I haven’t recovered yet from this meeting.