"He's a conundrum!"

Those are the words the neuro-psychologist used to describe Weston a couple of weeks ago.  A conundrum -- a puzzle, an enigma, a mystery!

We had the pleasure of meeting her about 3 years ago; she was the one to finally give us the official Autism diagnosis.  And while some may think, "Oh, great, even the professionals don't get Weston" or "Boy, that's helpful," I see her using that phrase in a positive way, and I can tell by the way she looks at him that she is intrigued by the possibilities and interested in him and his future.

Yesterday we followed up with some more testing, and the doctor told me in regards to Weston, "I think there is just SO much in there that we don't even know about yet."  It is truly validating when a professional concurs with your thinking.  So often I question myself...am I expecting too much from him, from his teachers, from his future???  It's a relief to know that someone on the "outside" but "in the know" believes in him too!  It makes all the fighting and advocating worth it.

I am anxious to see how all the testing and questionnaires and interviews shake out and how that compares to his initial evaluation 3 years ago and how we might use the information to help direct his school programming and supports for the years to come.

So I'll take "conundrum"...It's right up there with the statements one of the first professionals made upon meeting Weston when he was 12 months old..."You'll likely never get a real diagnosis to explain what's going on.  But sometimes, not knowing is better than knowing.  There's no "ceiling" when you don't have a label for it."

seizures vs. side effects

which is worse...seizures which interfere with life and learning or medication side effects which alter physical state and personality???

seizures

I'm beginning to hate the seizures...while they are a new clue as to what might be going on with Weston, they suck (pardon my French).  They interfere with his learning; they're random; they get instense and cause him to fall (another added worry on top of all the others).  It totally stinks that he can't verbalize what he feels or completely understand what's going on.  I hate having to decide about medications, especially those that carry nasty, potentially life-altering side effects...it's not fun to gamble your kid's health with the possibility of control so that learning can happen.---ARGHHH