So, what's next?
sigh
It's all VERY overwhelming. I met with our usual "special ed teacher" (we see her once a week, and a speech therapist once a week, right now) this morning. We sat down and talked more about a plan and goals for the next three months, which is all the time we have left in our current "birth to 3" program before he's supposed to be transitioned to "school services."
But, i'm still determined to homeschool. In fact, even moreso now than before. Have you seen some of the special education schools? What they are "legally" allowed to do to the children? I refuse to let my son be "one of those kids" thrown in a special education classroom and not really given what he NEEDS to succeed.
But, anyhow. So her and I sat and chatted this morning. We will continue on with her once a week, and speech once a week. Plus we will add a behavioral therapist once a week and an occupational therapist once a week.
Our next immediate step needs to be to see our pediatrician and discuss where we will go for further evaluations to see where exactly he falls on the spectrum, which will then help us go from there to see what services will suit us best. We're hoping to get a behavioral/developmental pediatrician who can do more autism evaluations. And getting in with a special medical team can take forever of waiting on a list. I'm not up for months of waiting.
I've also been looking for naturopaths. I'm trying to find one that accepts our insurance. I want to look into metal testing and detoxing, diet changes, and vitamins and supplements. I've already started Joshua on an Omega-3/DHA daily vitamin, and a daily dose of cod liver oil, along with homemade water kefir for probiotics. It's a good start but there's a LOT more to consider.
I guess all of that is the actual "what's next" planning for us.
But what's REALLY next?
I don't really know. I'm only starting to enter what many call the "grieving" period. The period of accepting that it's all really REAL. That this is our reality.
My little boy is not stupid. He's not a brat or a jerk. He's not spoiled or undisciplined. He's not DIFFICULT.
He has autism. He has sensory disorders. He has a lot of issues that are not his fault. He can't control. And we will learn how to control them the best we can. He's sweet and smart and an amazing little boy. And we will take this journey. Together.
It's all a LOT to process. I was able to order 2 books I found cheap on amazon, one about autism, another about healing autism through diet, supplements, etc. I'm doing a LOT of research, it's pretty much consuming my life. I just need a plan. A path. To know where we're heading. Because heading into the unknown, it's scary.
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