An update from our visit to Kennedy Krieger back in October for a study of siblings of Autism... things went well. After 7 hours of testing for all three boys we found out that AJ is normal (gasp) and functions well above his age in all areas they tested him in. Ben also tested high, but they didn't see any issues and then questioned us "Who exactly qualified you for this study?" Yet another group of individuals who thought Ben was a very bright boy with no issues. However, as we are all well aware Ben does well in a structured environment with adults. So this was no surprise so I took this '4th opinion' with a grain of salt.
However there was a surprise with Thomas! While we all assumed he was the 'normal' one in the family we quickly learned that he missed many of his developmental milestones (for even just a 7 month old they could decipher this - remember, we were there for HOURS!) This was mostly attributed to his gut wrenching pain from GERD that left him short of screaming the entire day. We were recommended to follow up with Early Intervention with our county, which I did the next day. He was qualified almost immediately, primarily for OT/PT and feeding thearpy. His biggest issue is week muscle tone through his trunk and hypertonic muscle tone in his limbs - which has been ascribed back to the pain from his reflux. While Thomas rolled over at only 2 months and was crawling at 7, he struggles to properly sit up, reach out to us, and hold his bottle. He was failing to meet milestones for expressive speech (even at his gestational age) as well.
Due to the increasing medications and lack of improvement with Thomas' symptoms we sought a second opinion from another GI who switched his formula to Elecare (and elemental formula). This HAS improved his symptoms over the past few weeks and our little guy is finally 'talking' and trying new things. We also took him to a specialist for allergy testing - using patch testing to rule out some other potential issues. More on that to come...
I guess what I am learning is that even with a son diagnosed with Aspergers (relatively young) and with two children who have already been through the gamut of OT and feeding therapies I still was shocked to learn that Thomas ALSO needed therapy. I know how important early interventions are so I am forever grateful that we are getting help now. I may go crazy in the interim from raising all these loons, but I know that in time all my boys will be healthy, happy, and functioning well among their peers.
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