An Answer

Yesterday we spent four hours with a pediatric psychologist at Rady's Children's Hospital in San Diego. Aden was such a trooper. We were able to have 2 breaks, during which we would ride the glass elevator up and down. The skies were black and it rained all day so Aden couldn't play outside at all. I thought the rain was fitting. At the end of our long day, we sat with DR Bental and she gave us our answer. She diagnosed Aden with Autism. On the DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria form, there are 12 possible boxes that can be checked. A child must have 6 boxes checked in order to be formally diagnosed with autism. Aden had 9. Of course, he doesn't show these behaviors all of the time, but he showed each of them enough during our 4 hours that she had to check those boxes. Obviously I half expected him to have some sort of diagnosis, since we were having him tested, I knew there was a reason. I was just a little shocked. I expected something that wasn't as "heavy", I suppose. She made it sound so easy and lighthearted, telling us that his situation was "ideal" since he is so "high functioning". His diagnosis is not "high functioning autism" though, it is just "autism". She said that the best thing we could do for him is put him in preschool right away, so that he can be around good "models"...that's when I cried. I'd rather drive him to 5 therapies a day than drop him off to be in the care of someone else. I had always planned to send him to part time pre-k next year, but this just seems too soon. Anyway, we have a lot of work ahead of us. People keep telling me that he is still the same little boy he was, and that he will be fine. Of course I know this. I couldn't even count how many times I have heard this, like everyone thinks I'm going to forget how amazing he is. Now we go on, loving him, and begin to push him everyday to be the best boy he can be. I'm glad it's over, but it's just the beginning.