Today is Christmas Adam

And tomorrow is Christams Eve. Get it? Bwahahaha. I heard that joke more than several times today. My kids made it up. They think they are clever.

So, all the good places in town to get a kid evaluated for Asperger's Syndrome/Autism spectrum issues are inaccessible because they are not in our insurance network.

Could we pay out of pocket? No, we could not. And out of network means out of pocket for the first $8000.00 dollars, and then they only pay fifty percent. I looked on line for this one really great place who doesn't take insurance at all, and they charge $150.00 for intake, $175.00 per hour for evaluation (three hour minimum for that) and $150.00 for the post-eval consult. That's $825.00 minimum and possibly more. That's just for the evaluation, not for therapy or anything like that.

I tried once to get the fee schedule from Weisskopf Child Evaluation Center, and they would not even give it out. They are not in our new network, either.

Surely we can go somewhere that is in-network, even if we have to travel. So I"m hunting. Perhaps there's a nice psychiatrist somewhere who will do the job.

And I've been reading, and I"m also pretty sure my 12 year old is firmly on the spectrum as well, as she very tyically fits the descriptions for female Aspieishness.

An interesting thing today: Twelve years old, mind you. She wanted to help me make fudge. This involved stirring the melted sugar/butter/evaporated milk mixture. So I got her started, then noticed she was not actually getting the liquid to move in the pot, so I showed her how to do it. I guided her hand for a few strokes to show her the figure eight pattern and the angle the wooden spoon needed to be. Then I let go, and chaos ensued in her stirring method. She could NOT keep the pattern going. I guided her hand some more, with verbal explanations of the method, and what I was doing (stirring the pot of hot butter stuff in a figure eight pattern...this should be easy, right?) Wrong. She could. not. do. it. We tried several more times. Lots of guidance. She tried, believe me, she tried. But she couldn't. Finally M gave up because her arm was tired, and I finished the stirring. Remember, this is a twelve year old we are talking about here.

Surely this would mean something significant to a psycho-neurologist somewhere.

I love my kids so much, but they aren't normal.

And whatever will I do?

Pray, I guess.

And what's the point of wanting a diagnosis? Well, it would help us get an IEP for special services we might qualify for through the public schools, it would influence the making of curriculum and college and career choices, and it might be the first step in bio-medial interventions. As we can afford them. And it would help me be a better mother, if I can have a better understanding of how their brains function differently from mine.

Would I want to fundamentally change my kids? No. Do I want them to learn social skills and life skills so that they can function and communicate? Yes. Would I like to maximize the nutrients going into their brains and minimize the harm? Yes.

So I can start on the homefront with the GFCF diet, cod liver oil and good vitamins, but I still think I'd like some medical backup.

Today I made GFCF graham crackers, and put the dough through a cookie press. They were really good. And lenten. And festive.