Dr. Gertz, Our New Behaviorist

Is anyone else prone to this? You know, months of laying low and then suddenly throwing everything you can find at Autism?

So after a summer of sitting in the backyard eating strawberries, I am back in the game. We found a Behavioral Developmental Ped that we like and have started going to sessions. I will call them sessions since that is what it feels like - visiting a shrink. The first one was on Thursday last, with just D and I relating Isaac and his history. This Friday, we all go in as a family to be discussed and observed.

And trust me - the parents and siblings are as much under the microscope as Isaac. It reminds me that as much as we discuss the biology of ASD, with diets and vitamins and massage therapies, with GI and bloodwork and sleep tests done, that from the start, Autism is a psych diagnosis.

Still in the early stages. Psycho therapy has been mentioned, maybe meds someday. But it is still to early to tell.

What we did get from Dr. Gertz (@ Artz Center), is that while it sounds as if the Autism diagnosis was accurate in the beginning, if he was re-diagnosed today, it would be PDD-NOS. Sound familiar, Tina? Sounds good, right? Not as severe? Who knows.

But what I DO know is that we have been dealing with a little kid with an ASD. And this newly minted 8 year old has suddenly decided that he is a Big Kid now, wants to take the bus to school, wants to take showers instead of baths, and thinks kissing is yucky. And his life is just going to get more complicated as he gets older. So what can we do to help him?