IEP, round one

The end of the school year is getting close and around here that means IEP time--both boys have their IEP reviews in March.  B was first up and one lovely thing about an IEP meeting at a preschool is the fact that there are toys and books everywhere so there was plenty to keep Izzy occupied while we talked :)

I think one of the more difficult things about putting together a plan for B is the fact that we don't know exactly what we are working with.  His evaluations through Early Intervention and the preschool show there is something going on but those evals don't give a diagnosis.  He has some delays but we need the pediatrician involved to get diagnostic to know exactly what is going on.  Things like high-functioning autism and OCD have been put on the table but without those evaluations, no one knows for sure.  We know that he is speech delayed but has been improving with therapy (although he is still too far behind).  We know that he is incredibly rigid and inflexible and that this interferes with his social development--he has a clear idea in his head how things should go and he does not handle deviations from that.  We know that he has little rituals he MUST do but we don't always understand the rules for those rituals and he seems confused that we don't understand.  Getting the proper evaluations is a fight every step of the way--so far, none of the local pediatricians have seen any cause for concern.  Even the one who thinks he is autistic :\  They want to wait and see if he grows out of these behaviors but the preschool teacher and social worker are in agreement that the sooner he gets specialized help, the better.  A diagnosis gives them a direction to move in.

At this point, my next move is to move him to the pediatricians at the Children's Hospital.  Its a drive but from all that I've read and heard, they can get him the evaluations he needs to find out what is going on with him.  So we are working on that and hopefully he will have a new patient appointment soon!  And maybe, just maybe, I will finally have a pediatrician I can work with instead of constantly fight against :p