Well, for starters, Wee is 9 now. I need to update my signature. I'm sure I'll forget some pieces, but in a nutshell...
I joked with my ob that he was "very active in utero, could we start him on ritalin" at 5 months. He was an extremely easy baby - didn't like to be held a lot, loved to just sit and watch the action, until he was mobile, then all hades broke loose. He would speak words here and there, but never sustained them. Three weeks and it was gone. Same with waving, did it, then quit. Learned to walk at 8 mos. Started trying on a Thur and literally did nothing BUT until he mastered it on Sat. That's the way he did everything - to extreme. Once walking, would not crawl AT ALL for 6 months.
Oh, seizures - first one at 6 months, but nothing diagnosis'ed til much later (he has complex partial seizure disorder, also - forgot that one). I have only seen a couple of them - witnesses have been other people.
Sitter addressed "concerns" at 14 months, so we took him to the pediatrician. Pediatrician dismissed concerns at 14 months and again at 2. Said there's nothing to do til he's in school and having problems. Found new pediatrician between 2-3.
Took older brother to a counselor with Wee in tow (I have 2 older boys, also. One was also a difficult child (difficult child 1) - living successfully now - he's 22). Counselor was fascinated by Wee's behavior. Asked if we could talk about him, suggested Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), referred us to a developmental pediatrician and early education program. Thus started the process.
He has had three neuropsyche evaluations. Regularly sees the devped. Also had in-home behavior therapy (IHBT) and behavior therapy in a clinic setting. Occupation therapy for sensory issues. Has seen 2 psychiatric's - last one has nothing more to offer at this time, so is just "on hold". After 3 years and no real answers from devped, I started looking for a new one - put ourselves on waiting lists anywhere within an 8 hour drive of our home. First one to have an opening was in Oklahoma, so took him there. They picked up on the dyslexia right away. Had thorough testing done there by speech language pathologist and continued to see the devped there (and here - working together) until that doctor was no longer available.
Had Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) testing done about 18 months ago at state school for the deaf.
Judevine evaluations x 2 (I'm so done beating the autism horse, quite frankly - half his "team" says he has it; the other half doesn't. I just say he has a lot of traits and leave it at that.)
And saw the same neuro from 6-months until this last year, with one second opinion thrown in, and now we have transferred that care to the second opinion doctor.
Oh, he's also had a sleep study and thorough allergy testing. Sleep study tech noted "irregular sleep patterns" but doctor that read it said there was nothing remarkable. Allergist put him on a pulsox for several days and he appears to have sleep apnea, but have not been able to confirm that and not sure how, or if, it plays into this.
Started early intervention preschool at 3, was a stellar student there. School refused to implement supprts when transferred to public school, so placed him privately in a smaller setting for K. Worked well til he had an old school marm teacher that refused to accept he had any issues that she couldn't beat out of him, and she threw him out (we could have challenged it, but who wanted to waste that energy) the last day before Christmas break of 1st grade. He started public school after break of his 1st grade year. Has been a disaster. He attended 20 days before they (illegally) reduced him to half days, and their biggest "tool" of that year was sticking him in a closet. We are a very small, rural district, so no other options for schools except to move, and I'd be all for moving if someone could tell me where to go that COULD/WOULD deal with him...not a maybe.
That's a very summarized nutshell version of this. Obviously, he's had all the school evaluations, too, starting when he was 3.
Trialed various ADHD medications - all have been a disaster. Ritalin was THE WORST. Wee has been in the waiting room at the ADHD clinic and the other parents there have commented on his activity level...and Ritalin acted just as speed would in anybody...it made the kid who already goes a hundred miles an hour go a million. Others have been equally disastrous. I have doubts about the ADHD diagnosis. Something else is going on.
Tried risperdal the first time at 3 and the first week on it was absolute heaven. For the first time ever, I sat on the floor with my son and cut, colored, and pasted and played real, deliberate play. By 2 weeks, that effect was gone, tho. We started it again a couple years later for aggression, and it did curb aggression, but never saw that little "window" again.
Oh, also diagnosis'ed developmental delays, and motor coordination disorder. Fine motor is a problem; gross motor, for the most part, was WAY ahead of schedule. He was jumping from objects 4-5ft high at 18 months (without hurting himself), and riding his bike on his third birthday without training wheels. But he still can't jump rope or write legibly.