Meetings, Appointments and Other Eric News

There is a lot to catch up on with Eric. This is another long one so relax with your beverage of choice and enjoy :-) Two Mondays ago we went to see the psychologist in charge of Eric's ABA therapy. This is called the lead therapist. The state mandates a meeting with this person along with Eric's therapy team every 6-8 weeks. Of course this could not be done during Easter vacation and Eric has to be present at the meeting. I had to bring him to school later that morning. Not real happy about that but oh well. This meeting turned out to be quite stressful for me. This psychologist was very concerned about Eric's eating, or lack thereof. I can understand that. It is obvious this man has never dealt with a situation like this before and eating disorders are not his specialty. He kept saying this was abnormal and that someone was not doing their job with Eric. He offered no viable solutions. This was making me very upset to say it nicely. There are no quick easy answers to these problems. It is going to take time to get Eric off that cup and eating more foods. I cannot force the issue no matter how much he thinks I should. Introduction to anything new has to be made as positive as possible or it will not work. They are intensifying the eating and oral tolerance programs. This psychologist could not believe that Eric has never seen a dentist. It is not easy to get an appointment at a dentist that would suit Eric's needs. They did give me a list of dentists that work with special needs children, but I doubt any of them put them to sleep. That is the only way a dentist is going to get into Eric's mouth. I would not be surprised if he has tooth pain. He won't let me brush his teeth with toothpaste, just brush and water. That could be contributing to the feeding problems. This psychologist also thinks there might be something physically wrong with Eric to cause him to not want to eat. There is a pediatric GI doctor on the feeding team and he don't suspect any issues. Once I get to the feeding clinic appointment I will say more on that. I was so glad to get out of there.

This brings me to his feeding clinic appointment which was 3 days later. I will keep this as short as possible. The psychologist there said that none of the issues that the other psychologist brought up would cause severe feeding problems like what Eric has. She's worked with many autistic children with this problem so I am sure she knows what she is talking about. Then the topic of totally breaking him from his cup came up. He has to get some nourishment. We have tried to take it away before and it don't work. He won't give in even if there is no other option. With that said, he would need medical supervision through this process. That would most likely mean another 2 week inpatient stay. I have to set up an appointment with his whole team (psychologist, nutritionist, SLP, nurse and GI doctor) to discuss possible physical issues with his feeding and whether it is safe to attempt the cup breaking/spoon intro at home. If we have to go back to the hospital most likely it would be in the fall or winter due to a waiting list. That would be difficult form me with my other children. I know their dad won't watch them. On the other hand I think this is what is needed. The psychologist said that if inpatient was needed they would work with me on all that. We will cross that bridge if and when we get to it.

Eric's IEP meeting was a week ago. The draft is all set, and we should get the final within a week. This was a long meeting, but it went very well. I am so happy with how much he has progressed in many areas. The obvious is his speaking. That has just exploded. He is now more willing to sit and do things such as art projects, ect without tantrums. He is willing to try writing now. He's got the routine of school down so well now. I could not ask for a better progress report. He tends to do more at school than he does at home. We have to work on that. We now have more tools for the therapists to work with such as mouth massagers, picture schedules, and social stories. He will be going to summer school again this summer, which he really enjoys. He went swimming with his class yesterday and had a blast! Will post pics of that once I get them.