An Answer!

This morning was the day that we got the results of the Autism test the Doctor had given Eden last week. This is how our day went.

This morning as I woke up, I noticed that Eden was in bed with us. This doesn't happen very often, but it was a beautiful thing. She was sleeping close and had my arm in a hug that I never wanted her to let go from. It was about a half-hour before we actually had to get up. I cuddled her and just thought to myself how lucky I am. Eden and her sisters are the best thing that had ever happened to me.

We had a wonderful morning. Everyone got up and dressed without a fuss. Ed took the girls to school and I took Eden to school. We met up at my sisters and then headed off. We had some time so we went out to breakfast. We discussed what would happen either way. If Eden didn't get the ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) diagnosis, we would then make plans to got through our insurance to get her Speech Therapy covered until the state had a spot for her. If she did get the diagnosis, we talked about how that would change things.

We decided that it would not change anything. We would then be better prepared to handle certain situations and Eden would still just "Be Eden", as we usually say. We would then try and get her the help she needs so she can thrive.

The actual Doctors visit went very well. I really like this Doctor; she explains things so it's easy to understand and listens and asks questions to get the whole picture. She explained all of the things she saw during our first visit, the teachers report, and the results of Edens ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) test. The way she explained it is that you have to have delays in three parts of development. They are communication, socially, and repetitive/stereotyped or restricted interests.

Communication is an important part of Eden's behavior issues. She gets frustrated or throws tantrums when she can't express anxiety or needs. She doesn't talk very much. She does tell us her wants and needs but not in sentences. Her social interactions are what is causing concern also. She doesn't look for joint attention like when trying to get someone to look at something she doesn't look back at the person to make sure she has their attention. She doesn't look at you when you call her name a good part of the time. She has a hard time socializing with children at school and doesn't really want to play with other children. As for the behavior piece, she is an organizer, but doesn't have a lot of those behaviors. She will only play with one type of toy at a time. When she is playing with ponies, she only plays with ponies. She lines things up like blocks and toys. She likes to organize the DVD's too. This was the overview of the very long report, but all of these things lead the Doctor to give her a diagnosis of Autism Disorder.

That news was a little more than I expected, but I had said before no matter what we would deal with it and give her what she needed to be the best person she can be. I'm not sure what will happen next, but I do know it will be exciting and full of "Eden just being Eden."