Medical Journey

Normally I don't like to air private family matters, but since many people I know have had positive experiences with writing about their journeys, I will endeavour to do so as well.

People who know me on Facebook and/or have read my previous blogs know that we've been having difficulties with our daughter, whom I refer to as "Missy".  Since she started school she has been noted as having difficulties in socializing with other kids, and keeping focused in the classroom.  At first this was attributed to the fact that she was raised at home instead of going to daycare, although I had made efforts to get her to play with other children her age.

Her Kindergarten and Grade One teachers reported that she was occasionally disruptive in class, and had a habit of throwing a tantrum or otherwise freaking out when something unexpected happened or if she didn't get her way.  We decided then to look into having a psychologist evaluate her, knowing that our nephew had a similar problem and it took several years to get him the proper treatment.

We formally began the process with the school at the beginning of her Grade Two year.  After numerous observation sessions and filling out of forms, we finally had a meeting with the school principal, Missy's homeroom teacher and teacher's assistant, the board's speech pathologist, and a child psychologist.

Missy's speech and academics are average or above average for her grade level, so that's not an issue.  Preliminary indications are that she has some form of ADHD and/or autism.  Getting a formal diagnosis and treatment for such however, will be a long and at times frustrating journey - if what happened with our nephew is any indication.

We took the first step this past week, only to end up several steps backward.  After we saw a pediatrician for another evaluation, he recommended a child psychologist, who unfortunately turned out to be on maternity leave until January.  The psychologist's office referred us to a clinic, who told me that they only take patients who are students at McGill University.  The clinic suggested calling the Children's Hospital.  The Children's asked us to send in our referrals by fax (Seriously? Who uses fax any more?) and wait for them to call us.

So we're back to Square One unless our "inside agent" at the Children's (we know someone who works there) can help get us back on track.