It's Like A Puzzle, Right?

 

I adore these two!

A good friend of mine that I met when we lived in NC, messaged me on FB about my blog post about Gus being diagnosed with SPD. She's an OT and said that if I had any questions, she'd love to talk to me and help in any way. I decided to take her up on her offer.

So after our morning playdate, and shopping at the Goodwill (I had no idea how quickly they turn over merchandise!), we came home and played for a bit and then once I put Gus down for the nap that he never took (LOL), I gave her a call.

She was super helpful and helped explain a lot of things that I have been wondering, but have no one to ask yet. We have to wait until our BCW case worker calls us to set up anything with a speech pathologist. I think after talking to Melanie, I'm going to definitely ask about doing speech for like a month and then OT for a month and then we'll see what we should do from there. I have a nagging feeling that if we do the speech for a long period of time, it'll just delay the help needed with the sensory issues. At least by doing OT, we can still get some help with speech, since most OTs also have some speech things that they can do.

It's all a very fascinating world and one that I never thought I'd be in. He's not autistic (I don't think anyway), and Melanie said if he was, they probably would have mentioned it. So, I guess that's a good sign. He doesn't have all the quirks that come with all parts of sensory processing disorder.

Melanie told me about some things that we can do with Gus while we're waiting to see an OT. She also sent me some info tonight and I went onto a therapy website and ordered some things that I think he'll really benefit from having. I'm hoping that Steve can submit the receipt to our flex-spending account. We'll see.

I feel like the puzzle pieces to represent autism are so appropriate. While Gus doesn't have autism (at least I don't think he does), SPD is something that many children with ASDs have. It's a complex disorder and something that many don't understand or see as real. I guess the more I'm reading and researching about it, the more real it's feeling, and the sadder I get knowing that there are people who don't think it's real. I guess until you've got a child who is suffering from something that you can't see or understand, you can't say if something is legit or not.

I feel like it's a big puzzle and I'm slowly getting various pieces and I'm left trying to put it together and find out what it all means. My hopes are that once we have contact from BCW, we'll get some answers (clues to our puzzle) and have a better idea of the whole picture and what's next to come.

For now, I'm eagerly awaiting my books to arrive that I ordered from Amazon. I'll read them and try to start creating a healthy "sensory diet" for Gus. Those are two words I never knew about before Monday, and here I am using them like it's been something we've been doing for months. A sensory diet includes things that we (mainly I) can do with him during the day to keep him busy, active, happy, and balanced. Having a good OT would be awesome because they can help create the sensory diet for him and I'd just have to follow it for him.

We shall see what comes. Melanie said it might be worth it to just find out the name of a good OT, meet with them and pay whatever is needed (we have a $1,000 deductible), let them get us started with what we need, and then not worry about the OT until we've done the speech for a while. I don't know... not sure what we'll do. I do know that our insurance doesn't cover a lot once we actually do meet the deductible (25 total visits a year from all therapy). 

Don't get me started on why I think we should have universal health care... but honestly, the fact that I have to pick a therapy for my child, because we can't afford more than one... it's ridiculous. But anywho...

 

The trampoline has been amazing for Gus. He jumps on it for several hours a day. Sometimes while watching MMCH, others while listening to music and dancing.

 

Gus and Steve at dinner on Tuesday

 

He loves bead mazes!

So as the picture becomes clearer, I'll be sure to keep y'all updated. Please keep us in your prayers as we head down this unfamiliar path. I pray that God equips us with all that we need to make sure that Gus is happy, balanced, and having all his needs met.