I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On the one hand, I would love for him to be able to attend preschool, but on the other, I would worry about him and miss him so much! I would also like to know if there is anything going on developmentally that I should be aware of, but on the other hand, I am reluctant to have him "diagnosed" at the age of three. His church/Bible Study/MOPS teachers are having a bit of a hard time with his behavior and sometimes this makes me wish that I did have a "diagnosis" to be able to excuse him with, but that very thing is also my biggest fear. If there is something going on then I don't want to use the diagnosis as an excuse for bad behavior; I can already foresee that a "diagnosis" would make it very confusing to determine what behaviors actually merit a true consequence. Or maybe this is all just a way of taking the blame for his behaviors off of my parenting and placing them on a condition?
To sum it up, they basically said that he needed to go for further tests in the area of speech. In every other area he was just fine. As far as his energy level, they said that they would know more about that after his second series of tests.
Before I get any crazy comments, let me just say that I realize 3 years old is too young to be diagnosing a child with a behavior/conduct disorder. I also want to say that I will not be putting Elon on medication even if it were suggested-- but his pediatrician would never suggest that. Nor am I worried that Elon doesn't answer questions, I do believe that this will come in time. However, his pediatrician recommended the screening based on her own observations and if there is anything going on, I'd like to find out so that I can start focusing on those areas immediately. And if Elon can gain anything by preschool, I hope that he will be accepted into the program. If not, I am happy to have my baby with me all day!
2 comments:
Everything will be ok!! If you get Elon into a good speech program now (it will most likely be free) he'll be good! We had a similar issue: Isaac was in speech from the age of 2 1/2 until just this summer...when he turned 5. He is very energetic but needed preschool! It helps get that energy out.;-)
Being in a speech program is also good at this age — catch it while he's young. It not only helps him but also will help you to know how to bring out the talking part of his personality. Any "bad" behavior, as a teacher would put it, is usually just the frustration of not being able to talk. Does that make sense? I feel like I'm blabbering...
Please write me if you want...we've been through all this too.
I feel your heart on this one. It IS tough to know how to proceed; but likewise, it IS good to get him evaluated and gain a clearer perspective on what's going on.
I'll pray for wisdom for you all and peace through the whole process.
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