Off to see the neuropsychologist to hear her conclusions...

[gcvmom]

about difficult child 2. I'm eager to find out what she found.

He has had some significant improvement since going back to Risperdal which I am ALL smiley over

He is finally back to being the focused, connected, conscious kid I remember from two years ago before he started falling apart. Impulse control is SO much better. He is emotionally present. And he is starting to take care of things that he was completely clueless and negligient over before (his pets, his room and belongings, his homework). Simply amazing what a difference a few little pills have made in this kid.

psychiatrist said he can't say for sure if what we saw was completely due to the Sydenham's onset. He said only time will tell for sure if it was purely mood disorder or purely Sydenham's, or a combo of both. I'm inclined to believe the combo theory. He still is shakey, but handwriting is improving. He may never get back to "normal" in that respect -- so thank goodness for the IEP that's being finalized.

Anyway, I'll post an update when I get back from the appointment in a few hours!

 

[4sumrzn]

I'm glad to hear things have improved....that's wonderful! Good luck at the appointment!

 

[Wiped Out]

What a great post to read! I'm so happy there are so many positive improvements!

 

[gcvmom]

Okay, so the report was no big surprise. He's extremely bright, but his IQ is significantly hampered by his processing speed, and by his attention difficulties to a lesser degree. It's not known whether the processing issues are due to medications or him or a combination of both. At this point it doesn't really matter, since the medications are keeping him stable. Although they are being scaled back as needed -- we're just not done tweaking things yet.

So her recommendations are:

Social skills training...
Continued therapy, including biofeedback to work on emotional and social aspects of his development, self-regulation and monitoring, etc....
Increased time for any and all academic testing...
Tests administered in a distraction-free environment (private room) with periodic breaks to restore attention and alterness...
Assistive technology (alphasmart or a laptop) to support fine motor problems related to the Sydenham's, as well as a reduction of the amount of writing he has to do...
Simplified worksheets and tests so that he's not overwhelmed and makes fewer errors...
O.T. to work on fine motor coordination problems relative to writing...

I think these will be readily accepted by his school. We're meeting on 5/1 to have the final IEP meeting, but I'll be giving them a copy of the report in the mean time so they can incorporate the recommendations.

Wow. I think I see a glimmer of "normal" on the horizon! THIS I can deal with