myadoptionwebsite.com - International adoption web sites and announcements

Saturday, March 17, 2007This is a difficult update to start, so much has transpired since our last entry! I’ll start with the biggie, the out-of-the-blue, the nightmare-ish experience that occurred in February. I hesitated sharing this with anyone other than close friends and family, but decided that there may be other families who are going through or will be going through a similar experience. And I firmly believe that God allows us to experience painful and difficult times in order to be a source of support and love for others who are experiencing similar hardships.

That said; let me begin at the beginning! In February we had a long-awaited appointment with a very well respected Developmental Therapist. I was anxious for this appointment because I felt like she would be able to pinpoint Isabelle’s deficits and help us ensure we were getting her the proper therapies. The appointment took over two hours and I was thrilled that Isabelle played happily the entire time, no meltdowns in front of the doctor! When the testing was completed, we all sat down and, across a mini table strewn with cubes and puzzles, the doctor told me that Isabelle has Autism. To say I was unprepared to hear this diagnosis would be a huge understatement. The tears fell and, I was so filled with emotion I didn’t even know what to say. In all our time spent with therapists, in the Early Intervention program, no one had ever used this term when speaking about Isabelle. So I didn’t even have any intelligent questions to ask! Chris had just left days before so I was there alone and feeling completely lost. We left the appointment and I am not sure how I drove home. After several days in a haze, and some serious time spent researching Autism, I began to believe that our girl was not autistic. She does have some of the characteristics of an autistic child, but many of the things she does could be attributed to her speech delays, sensory issues and/or attachment issues. So I became determined to find other professionals who would evaluate her fairly and without bias. We met with a child psychologist who evaluated Isabelle at length, watching her interact with me and play alone. I explained to her that Isabelle had been diagnosed as autistic and asked her what her honest opinion was. She told me, without hesitation, that she did not believe Isabelle was autistic. She did note the areas she has deficits: speech, interpersonal relationships and self-regulation. She said that she would not diagnose a child Isabelle’s age until AFTER all the appropriate therapies had been attempted and were found unsuccessful. And she felt like Isabelle would respond beautifully if we were to intervene now and with several recommended therapies. I cannot express the hope I was filled with after this meeting. For weeks I had been mourning the loss of the Isabelle I had known and loved, mourning the loss of the life I had imagined she would enjoy. But now I had hope that Isabelle might be able to do all those things and anything else she chose to pursue.

Since then, Isabelle has been evaluated by the local school district for the special needs pre-school. There we received a very similar diagnosis to the psychologist’s, that Isabelle was not autistic, in fact, she was just showing very typical behavior for a child who was delayed emotionally and verbally. During the testing, she was asked what was in a picture. The psychologist wanted her to say “baby” or “mama” any kind of terminology to show she knew what was being shown to her. The figure was of a stick person who was missing one arm, one leg and one eye. When Isabelle saw the picture, instead of saying anything, she drew in the missing leg and arm! We all sat there amazed…none of the specialists had ever seen a child her age do that! It was such a sweet mercy from God that we were all there to witness her ability to do something so beyond her age, for which I was and still am incredibly grateful. We have since begun occupational therapy with gusto, seeing a new OT who specializes in sensory issues. We are continuing her speech therapy two times a week and her speech therapist (who treats many autistic children) agrees that an autism diagnosis just doesn’t fit Isabelle.

I have begun to try to parent Isabelle differently, insisting that she use her words to tell us how she is feeling or what she is wanting. I am also trying to engage Isabelle in more one-on-one play, trying to follow her lead in whatever she is interested. In a short time we have seen a good bit of improvement! In the last few weeks she has said her first two-word sentences, her first being “Mama, all gone!” to the speech therapist after I left them for her session. Then, the other day she said “Baby, shoes!” when she wanted me to put her shoes on her baby doll. Of course, I happily complied  Today we were going on a walk, something we’ve just started doing since the weather has gotten so beautiful here in the South. Isabelle loves to walk our dog, Velvet and when I was putting on Velvet’s leash Isabelle said “Walk Velvet!” It is so awesome to witness her putting it all together in her mind…when she puts her wants and desires into words, she can actually (most of the time) get what she wants! Enjoying chocolate chip cookies

Isabelle LOVES bathtime!

Saying goodbye to Daddy

Playtime at the park

"Baby, shoes!"

"Walk Velvet!"

We will continue with her OT and speech therapy over the summer and she will start in the special needs preschool in the fall. Our school system has an excellent program and she will be in a class with at least 2 teachers and no more than 8 students. As much as I don’t like to start my children in school before they are pre-K age, Chris and I feel strongly that Isabelle needs this time in a school setting to give her the opportunity to catch up to her peers. Thankfully, Isabelle will be attending the same school as her big brothers, Asher and Dalton! When I told Asher that Isabelle would be going to his school in the fall he excitedly asked, “Can I walk her to her class?” With her brothers looking out for her, I know she will be in good hands 

I pray that the next update we write for Isabelle will be filled with many new words and accomplishments to her credit. But the reality is that her future is still largely unknown. We will do everything we can to get her the therapies she needs and to be the best parents we can be. We also know that her future lies in His hands, the One who purposefully placed her into our family almost two years ago. And we will rely on Him to watch over and protect her as He has from the beginning.

Web site by myadoptionwebsite.com