July 25, 2012

Theres not to much to report on here for the Spalding family, but I can't complain. I am glad things are somewhat calm around here for a change! Last Thursday we finished up testing for Cora's autism. I thought that we would have results somewhat soon, but what they didn't tell us upfront, is that after all the testing is over there is an 8-week waiting period to get the final results. We've already waited almost five months, what's two more, right? It is frustrating, especially because everyone keeps asking me what the results are, but it makes sense. Each of the team members involved in Cora's case (I think there are about 8 or so) go over her taped play session, and over our formal interview and come up with a report. After that, the pyscologist (autism is technically veiwed as a mental disorder" goes over all the same things and comes up with an official diagnosis. The good news is that we will know where she is on the spectrum and what we can do to help her be successful. I have no doubt in my mind that she's on the spectrum, I am just very anxious to know where she is and how I can help her. With that said, Cora has been growing tremendously! She has learned SEVERAL new words, although she still sticks to mostly one word phrases. At least we are starting to be able to communicate with Cora! Her occupational therapy is helping a lot too, and Ben and I are learning ways to help calm Cora's tantrums.

Because Cora is starting to communicate better, we are thinking that it is time to start potty-training. Cora's therapists all tell me it is too early for her still, but I think she is picking up on it rather quickly. I cannot wait to be done with diapers!

Ben has been keeping super busy with school and work, but he is doing really well with both as well as helping out a ton around the house. It is great! He has to be to work by 5 am, and this morning he woke up extra early to do all of the dishes before he left. I don't know how he manages it, but I am a lucky lady!

I have been keeping busy with work and chasing Cora. In my free time I decided to train for the Halloween Half Marathon with my sister. We started out cold turkey, and it was painful. We are not even a week in to training and have 11 weeks left! I am just hoping I can stay motivated to train so I don't embarrass myself!

Our family was able to go to Baker last weekend for Miner's Jubilee. Cora went to her first parade and made quite the haul on the candy front. She had so much fun. I don't know what she liked more, all the people throwing candy at her or waving at all of the horses. Cora also got to enjoy way too many free snowcones (maybe that was her favorite part). It's alway nice to get to go home for a few days. Lucky for us, my parents are coming down to Utah within the week to welcome my newest niece! It seems like my parents have been down at least once a month all summer long and Cora is loving being able to see her grandparents so much.

Hopefully my next post won't be so boring, and maybe it will even have some pictures of my new niece! :)

Autism Testing Round 1 and Other News

Finally, after waiting for 4 months, we were able to get Cora in today for the first part of her autism testing. Well, the appointment was actually for last week, and after a huge mixup her appointment was canceled. Long story short, they offered to put her back on the waiting list for the testing, and that just wasn't going to work for us, so Ben and I found some people with decision making power and got Cora in for today. Thank goodness. Not only do I think I would have gone crazy having to wait again for Cora's testing, we really need to get it done as soon as possible so we can expand Cora's services and get her into the classes that are vital for early intervention.

So today was the first half of the test. Basically they just had a bunch of structured and unstructed play time just to get a feel for Cora. They taped the whole sessions, but Cora didn't seemed to mind the camera. She did great. She played just like normal, which I was glad because sometimes she likes to put on a show for strangers. She only had a few small trantrums, but I am glad she did because they need to see what I'm dealing with on a daily basis. Luckily for them, they got the very mild tantrum. I go back in for part 2 of Cora's testing on Thursday. For that session, they sit down and grill me with questions for 2 hours. That should be interesting. Needless to say, we don't have a diagnosis yet. I am hoping we have a definitive answer by the end of the week. Who knows? I am not doubting that she has autism, I am just anxious for her to get the help she needs and curious as to where she falls on the "spectrum". They did however tell me this much, Cora is smart. Very Smart. Ha, tell me something I don't know. You can't fool that girl. She has this weird way of taking everything in. I mean details, details, details. She acts like she is not watching, but she always seems to find where I hid the "no nos". She watches as I make things work, then she makes them work herself. She's amazing.

The thing with autism that I am having the hardest time with is that it doesn't present itself until your baby is a little older. I mean up until Cora was about 20 months, we thought she was perfectly normal developmentally speaking. Up until that point she had hit or even exceeded every developmental milestone (which is impressive given that she was a premie). The all of the sudden someone suggests that our perfect baby isn't perfect. Luckily for us, we still think Cora is perfect. She is improving and learning everyday, we will just have to change how we teach her and help her develop. Thankfully we live in a time where autism reasearch is expanding and that we have access to early intervention that will most likely help Cora to be "mainstreamed" by the time she gets into school.