Pats on the back

After receiving a letter from the district reminding me that in order to re-enroll Jack (or to continue with homeschooling), I needed to submit his state assessment results. However, having NOT yet received the results, I decided to call in to the main office to find out what's up. I left a message and got a call early the next morning, letting me know that Jack ROCKED his math and reading tests! (The Special Ed director called me hours later to congratulate Jack, as well).

He did great. I was worried, because it took him just less than half the time allowed for each. Did he skip questions? Did he skip pages? Ack! He scored "advanced" for reading, and "accelerated" for math, so of course I'm thrilled for him. I did my best as his teacher, he did his best as a student (for the most part LOL), and now he can move on to the Fourth grade. :)

In other news, my search for a new doctor continues. We have not been back to the psychiatrist, and we are down to 1mg of Intuniv. However, we have a trip looming on the horizon, and there is no way that days in a car will be any bit of fun with a kid who can't sit still. Having decided that we should get him in to see the regular pediatrician in the mean time, I gave Jack 2mg the night before last, and then took him in to the dr. yesterday morning. I have to go fill the scripts, but we are at least going to attempt a cocktail of Concerta (the lowest dose- and only dose that Jack ever tolerated) and Intuniv (at 3mg, which seems to be the best level, having watched him come down from this medication). I have no idea how it will work, but we have about a month of that before going back for a follow-up. The thing is that the home environment is really so different from school, that I honestly don't know the true measure of how this will all work. He may be great over the summer, and then all hell breaks loose once school starts. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

I have found a DAN doctor who is local, and part of me is really interested in taking Jack in to see him. These doctors are ridiculously expensive, though! I don't know if any of them take insurance. My interest is mostly in the lab work, to find out what may or may not be going on with Jack's body. But $400 for the first visit? Follow-ups of almost $300 each, every 3 months or so for the first year? Plus any nutrients the doctor suggests/prescribes? What crack are these people smoking?? Honestly, with so many kids being diagnosed with Autism, I pretty much feel at this point that a lot of the doctors are using these kids and their families as a way to make money. Totally taking advantage of them.

No word yet on whether Jack will still have a service coordinator/case file with the County. Guess I should expect a letter any day now. I'm just going to try and be positive about it, either way. If he's challenged enough to need their help, then I will be grateful for the services. If he's not that challenged, well, I will take that to mean that he will most likely be able to care for himself when he's an adult.. at least being able to (probably) live by himself. Many adults with Autism cannot do that, so this is something to be grateful for as well. God will let things work out the way they're supposed to.