Emotional Roller Coaster

Well, I have been just up and down over the Sophia school choice. Last Monday (10th) her kindie class had a grandparents day program with singing etc. The noise crowded room etc just stressed her out. Hands over her ears, turning her back etc--my little lost sheep. As soon as the program ended, Sophia went straight for me, crawled in my lap and began to script one of her TV shows. Totally stressed out. After having a cookie, we went outside and she played on the slide. Calm settled on her then. Soon after, class resumed and all the families, including us, left.

Her aide seems very nice, but I was not aware that she is for afternoon only. My first reaction after getting home and thinking about how Sophia reacted was to wrap her in cotton wool and keep her safe. But, I was also aware that the program occurred on only her second day of school.

God was looking out for me that day. I thought to check the answering machine after a while, and there was a message from the specialist's office in Ann Arbor. A cancellation had opened up an appointment. So, I called the office and took the appointment for the following morning.

Dr Tsai was the doctor who had initially diagnosed Sophia in August 05 as PDD-NOS with emergent Asperger Syndrome. After David and I met with him last Tuesday, I was relieved. He gave us a game plan on what to request from the school, how to get OT and her psychologist involved, and a referral to a child psychiatrist locally to get her treated for anxiety. As Dr Tsai is well known as being anti-medication, I did not take his recommendation lightly. Sophia's anxiety permeates everything she does lately--school, going outside, reaction to outside stimulus. He would like her to be treated for 3-4 months, until the school day becomes second nature and she becomes accustomed to the roiutine and noise levels.

So, I now know what the school needs to be doing. I have a great team in Sophia's corner, I just need to get the wheels in motion.