Um...Some Stuff I Didn't Mention Last Week

I have been thinking about the interesting way that blogs can be absolutely accurate and true and yet still omit important details of the blogger’s life. Such was the case last week for me.

Yes, I told the story of my naked hot spring action in a far away place with strangers – and that was true. And I do truly love me some Oh Holy Night, and it did totally help put me in the Christmas spirit. No, dishonesty or fabrications there.

But there were a few details that I didn’t write about.

For example, I had a crazy week last week professionally. It was challenging and exciting – and it had nothing to do with my paid work. But really, it’s not all that interesting for anyone but me, so I chose not to write about it.

Also, I was sick as a dog for most of the week. When I finally started feeling better from the sinus infection/bronchitis, the antibiotic I am on started kicking my butt. The side effects are uncomfortable and unpleasant, but – alas, I asked the doctor! – not severe enough to stop taking it. Again, were I to write more about it, you all might fall over from boredom or start tugging your ears in pain from the incessant whine. So enough with that.

Finally, Zane had both his hearing and speech evaluations last week - and the results were mixed.

Hmmm, I should probably write about that.

The good news: Zane’s hearing is completely within “normal” ranges, so hearing is not the issue for him. And while the hearing eval itself was traumatic, he eventually calmed down and responded to the questions. (Not surprisingly, the key was to proclaim all the high pitched noises to be train whistles and the low whirring noises as trains moving down the track. It worked like a charm.)

The “eh” news: Zane’s speech is overall in the average range. He’s behind in some areas. He’s on target in others, and in others he’s beyond what is typical. They recommended speech therapy for a few specific sounds, but certainly weren’t presenting it as something Zane absolutely needed. It was more a kind of “let’s see how it goes” attitude.

Which leads to…

The not-so-good news: Zane’s uneven speech evaluation results are atypical – and not in a very straightforward way. They indicate that something else may be going on with him.

We’ve been referred on for an occupational therapy evaluation to determine what the gaps in the eval mean. The speech therapist explained that they suggest an issue with sensory integration.

(Are all you mamas out there thinking autism right now? Because I sure was.)

But no, she says that he is absolutely not autistic. She said that while it was “subtle”, Zane may be having some difficulty processing what he receives sensorially. (Here, I would typically put a link to sensory integration disorder, but it kind of freaks me out right now, and we don’t even know if it’s a relevant diagnois or if his symptoms would even reach the threshold for such a diagnosis.)

Here’s some of what she saw: Zane has to label everything on the page before he could answer her questions about what’s happening on that particular page. He is very attuned to noises in his environment – he doesn’t filter some of the background noise. He can’t/doesn’t answer particular questions – it’s like he’s doesn’t understand the question although in other ways she can tell that he knows the concepts. And while he warmed up fairly quickly, he certainly had to adjust to the environment before he could move forward with the eval.

And before those who love us rush to Zane’s defense, I should say that I think she got a very accurate picture of what Zane is truly like. She saw us for well over two hours, and Zane liked her and happily answered most of her questions. He also evidenced nearly all of the behavior I’ve been questioning since he failed the speech and hearing screenings a few weeks ago.

So I think she had a handle on it. I trust (although not blindly) her expertise and will definitely be following up to schedule an occupational therapy evaluation.

So over the past week, I have become more and more aware of my own hopes and fears for my son, my preconceptions and misperceptions, and my own ableism.

I’m fearful. I’m definitely worried, but I’m determined not to borrow trouble before we have all the information.

I’ll let everybody know when there’s more to tell.

In the meantime, I will continue to write about my multiple gaffes and the mishaps of my marginal parenting, because it’s Christmas dammit, and I’m going to be joyful.