Thursday, May 31, 2012

Re-evaluation

Today Sam and I went to Brain Balance for the second of two re-evaluations. He worked in the sensory gym with Sarah Anne while I sat in reception re-completing the same written evaluations I filled out when we started - The Brown Scale (measures ADD/ADHD), the GARS (an autism rating scale), The Hemispheric Checklist (measures Motor, Cognitive, Sensory, etc), The Sensory Profile and the BER (Behavioral Evaluation Record).

Pre Brain Balance, sadly, my pencil filled in many of the circles all parents want to avoid - the ones that made it obvious that Sam has ADD and PDD-NOS. Thanks for the reminder. Just what I needed.

I had to answer yes to countless questions that had been reworded and re-asked over and over in slightly different ways:

Does my child have a hard time focusing? YES.
Is his handwriting large and messy? YES.
Does he find social situations challenging? YES.
Is it hard for him to sit through meals and homework? YES.
etc, etc, etc. I get it.

And then there were the questions that I proudly responded no to -

Does he eat objects that arent food? NO.
Does he repeat certain words over and over? NO.
Does he avoid certain rooms because they smell of cleaner? NO.
etc, etc, etc. Somehow the NOs hurt more than the YESs. But isnt that always the way?

Fast forward four months into the future to now. And once again, this Brain Balance experience has managed to make me stop in my tracks. There are a few questions that have new and improved answers –

Does your child hate sports? Does Four Square count as a sport? I think it does - NO.
Does your child only choose sedentary activities? NOt anymore. He actually likes to play basketball in our driveway.
Does your child memorize words but has a hard time with reading comprehension? This used to be an issue but NO.

And the new answers go on and on. It's amazing to be able to step back and measure the change; to see the new future that is Sam’s. I forgot how sad Sam was. And what a challenge every new experience was for him. And how hard it was to watch. But now his story is different and we've rewritten the rest of the chapters. Outstanding in every way.

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