minutes from here, so I get him from school (around 3:15 is when we actually get our kids after waiting in line from 2:45) and then drive 20 minutes to New Braunfels for the appointments....a far cry from the 45 in CA, but still hard since I do all this with Erin now. She has to be woken up from her nap, thrown in the car for carpool, then off to this appointment where she and I sit in the waiting room and then back in the car and home around 5:30. Wednesdays Zach and Erin both have swimming at 5 and 5:15...leave there around 5:50 and head home for a quick change and then off to soccer...I hate Wednesdays. The Thursday he has OT/Speech at 3-4...so early pick up from school...early or no nap for Erin since we have to get him earlier than normal. Blah!
But...It isn't awful by any means. I am thrilled here he is getting OT...We chose to wait on ABA (applied behavioral analysis therapy) for a while and see what the testing results were on him and what they recommended. ABA is a great tool, but with him being in mainstreamed school and extra curricular activities we have no time for it honestly. And what he learns in it isn't always applicable to a child in a mainstream setting...always weighing pros and cons here I tell you. So in order to help him be more normal, we had to make some decisions on what to go and for the most part I think we are doing fine without it.
Zach is very fortunate in some areas that might seem strange to say...he is very cute...not because he is my child, but he is a good looking child and doesn't look like he has something wrong. So in first meeting, it goes unnoticed most of the time. He is sweet, lovable and happy...again masks other issues when people first meet him. He is super smart. The boy is reading well beyond his years and knows things that really a 5 year old shouldn't. So in school he is doing quite well in academic areas. His struggles though are there...His fine motor and gross motor skills are very week. He struggles with simple tasks, zipping, buttoning, running...He is super smart and loves things like weather, space, etc...what other 5 year olds in his class what to hear about the weather channel updates? What other 5 year old knows who Bill Marrow and Jim Cantore are? He has a hard time making friends that stick because other kids don't know how to play with him any more than he knows how to play with them...his interests are odd. He tries...really hard...but it often isn't enough. It is painful as a parent to watch and know there is nothing I can do. When he is at school I can't help him...I can't know all that happens and how to help him know what to do....I can't shield him from the bullies that he already has to deal with. I can't make the world more accepting. I have to have faith that he is able to do this...that it isn't too much and he can and will be okay....relatively speaking.
NO result yet from the testing places...school or BAMC. I am anxious to get this part done and move on to treatments and therapy changes, etc.
I do love this area and I am so thankful to be here. The rental house is awesome...the neighborhood is great. The school is great. We area meeting people and trying to get involved and busy. Sadly I signed up for a stay at home moms play group and most days they have things are when I can't do them because of Zach's schedule...But I am trying. :) And I am a ton happier here than I have been in a long time...so that is a very good thing!!
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