ATTENTION! ATTENTION!! THIS IS SOME OF THE BEST NEWS WE HAVE HEARD IN A LONG TIME!! If you havent' heard, Jaxon came up on a waiting list for a preschool, Giantsteps, that he has been on for a year and a half. In order to get into the school they need to evaluate the child to see if they qualify for the services. (the child needs to show some range of autistic behaviours to qualify) So we took Jaxon in on March 12 and for 1 1/2 hours Jaxon was being evaluated. I couldnt' watch, so I was very curious on how the eval went. Deep down I was hoping that they would come back and say, "oh your son doens't need our services, he is like any normal little boy.....what, you say he once had a diagnosis of Autism...you would never know that now." That was what I was hoping to hear. I knew that might be a bit premature, but it doesn't hurt to hope.
Later in the week I got a voice mail from the school saying that Jaxon DOES qualify for the service and they think he would do really well in the Giantsteps program. Call us back for the details on the test. That was not what I had hoped to hear. I was prepared to hear that, but hoped to hear the opposite. I didn't call the school back and began to think that maybe I need to accept that despite all the work we put into this, and no matter how hard Jaxon tries, he just might never come completely out of Autism. While he has come so far, I have always felt that we are going to go all the way and there is no chance that Jaxon wont loose this diagnosis all together. But after hearing that message I got discouraged and mad and decided I cant keep setting myself and Jaxon up for disappointment. Maybe this is the best it will get for him.
Well Tues rolls around and I decide to call for the specifics of the test. The teacher tells me that Jaxon scored very very well on the test. He actually scored in the "NON-AUTISTIC range!" It took a minute for that to really hit me, that he scored as NON AUTISTIC! But then why did he still qualify for service? Well They still saw some social quirks, and some residual behaviours that they felt he would do well in the high functioning group. I was so happy to hear this. I am the first to admit that Jaxon needs more help in the social part than the academic part. He is brilliant, but doesn't quite know how to read others. He is still leaps and bounds of what he used to be, but not normal.
I immediatly called Jeff and family and told them of the great news! Everyone was so happy and reconfirmed how far they think he has come. One comment from one of his teachers the other day, (she works in special ed) was that Jaxon is one of two kids she has ever worked with that she has seen such a complete turn around. This particular lady was one teacher who did the evaluation on him last year when he was about to turn 3. She said " I remember thinking, oh are we ever going to get anything out of this kid. All he does is scream and yell." It was the truth, at that particular eval, we couldnt' even get him to sit down at the chair. He was way to overstimulated and couldn't yet talk. It was truly a low point for us. Now he is in this particular teachers class, and she says he is the best behaved in the class. (and he is in a class with 6 normal kids!) He is well on his way to recovery. I truly belive that, it just might take us a little longer, but hey we have the time!
I found the print out of the evaluation last year. The comparables are astounding for just one year. It states that Jaxon was "Clinically signifigant" in the following areas, Hyperactivity, externalizing problems, Atypicality, Withdrawl, and Behavioral Symptoms. Basicly that means that he can't score any worse on those areas. the rest of the test was "at risk". Agression, Anxiety, Depression, internalizing problems, attention problems, adaptability, social skills, functional communication, daily living skills. the only thing that was in the normal catagory was "Somatization" (i have no idea what that means.)
I am very grateful that he has gone from Clinically signifigant, and At risk, to NON AUTISTIC!! Thanks for reading this "novel" and thanks again for everybodys support and prayers for us. It truly couldn't have been done without all your help and support!
ATTENTION! ATTENTION!! THIS IS SOME OF THE BEST NEWS WE HAVE HEARD IN A LONG TIME!! If you havent' heard, Jaxon came up on a waiting list for a preschool, Giantsteps, that he has been on for a year and a half. In order to get into the school they need to evaluate the child to see if they qualify for the services. (the child needs to show some range of autistic behaviours to qualify) So we took Jaxon in on March 12 and for 1 1/2 hours Jaxon was being evaluated. I couldnt' watch, so I was very curious on how the eval went. Deep down I was hoping that they would come back and say, "oh your son doens't need our services, he is like any normal little boy.....what, you say he once had a diagnosis of Autism...you would never know that now." That was what I was hoping to hear. I knew that might be a bit premature, but it doesn't hurt to hope. 
The baby is here! He arrived at 3:17 p.m. at a whopping 8 lbs 1 oz. He is 20" inches long, and appears to be perfectly healthy! I also must add he is our best piece of work yet. He is very calm, content, and hungry! What a beautiful baby! Mom was such a trooper, what an amazing delivery and recovery she has had. 
