appt with consultant tomorrow morn

[keepingmesane]

tomorrow morning i have an appt for jasmine to see the consultant again, its actually a 6 month review of her cerebral palsy to just check how she is doing but there is so much more going on now.

when i last saw him i raised concerns over jasmines behaviour etc and was told that "she is allowed to be like that as she has an autistic brother".

 

prior to beginning at their integrated nursery in oct, myself and my twins went one afternoon a week to a sort of play group held there. we began going in march and it gave the staff chance to get to know kieran and jas before starting nursery. all through this time they were very supportive of us as kieran was going through all the assessments. one particularly bad day i broke down at the group and they had a good chat with me. it turned out that they werent concerned at all with kieran, yes he was autistic but they could see exactly how to work with him and how to help him.... but they were really concerned about jasmine. this totally threw me as she seemed to be doing all what she should be doing at that age, though i did feel she was different to her peers, professionals reassured me she was fine.

when kieran and jas started nursery in oct they were split into seperate groups on seperate floors to see if it was kierans influence on jasmine or not. i didnt know that this was the reason they were split so it came as a shock in dec when i was told that jas was having a lot of difficulty and that they didnt really know what was going on, in fact they had never met a child like jasmine. this kind of scared me as this nursery has been going for over 50 years and has had so many different special needs children.

its getting more and more obvious that jas is on the spectrum but only to those who actually spend time with her. she has a way of making people think she is a very normal, if a little hyper, little girl. she is incredibly social but cant actually interact with other children. she gets incredibly hyper when its group time or time to do anything structured. she is emotionally unstable and can go from being ecstatically happy to really down and sad without any triggers being noticed. although she sounds liek she is chatty she actually learns certain things and then cycles it constantly. my biggest worry is that there are so many little concerns and problems that it will be hard to get people to listen. with one or two big things they get noticed but little things are hard to describe what i or the nursery mean.

the nursery got the ed psych in to see her and apart from the noticeable language difficulty of talking only in single words or short sentences, the e.p didnt see any problems.

 

so, back to the point of the post (sorry) i am dreading tomorrow as i will find out if the cons is on my side or not and whether we are in for a long hard slog to get jasmines difficulties noticed. the nursery have offered to send one of their SALT and another member of staff along to a future meeting if i get nowhere tomorrow but im so hoping it wont come to that. the nursery and jasmines sharecare worker are behind me 100% which is a relief but i still feel daunted by it all. the senco at the nursery practically said the other day that jasmine is on the spectrum and she has said that she is really worried that if proper support is not put in place then jas will really relapse when she goes to school next year. the nursery have worked so hard to settle jas, great in one way but sadly now if anyone is to observe her, she wouldnt show the problems!

 

why is it that the professionals wont spend time and listen to those that actually work with the child, instead of ignoring them if they dont tick the box.

i feel so nervous waiting

the nursery has just been ofsted inspected and got outstanding across the board making them in the top 1-2% of nurserys... do you think that will swing weight with the consultant?? the staff are well trained in special needs so know what they are talking about!

[Bambi]

Good luck for 2moro hope all goes well, i know what u mean tho about getting ur childs difficulties recognsied and the help that comes with it as its all such a battle especially if they are high functioning.

 

Do let us know how u get on.

 

Bambi x

[BusyLizzie100]

Lots and lots of luck for tomorrow - I hope you get the answers you need.

 

It's fantastic that the nursery are being so supportive - they may have been going for 50 years, as you say, but it's doubtful that the same staff will have been there for 50 years. I would take up any offer of support from them, as they are obviously very much on your side. I think that if both parent and teacher are expressing concern, consultants are much more likely to listen.

 

All the best for tomorrow, and please, please come back and tell us how you get on.

 

Lizzie xxx <'>

[peppa]

Very best of luck for tomorrow, it sounds like you have a wonderful support in the nursery staff.

Jasmine sounds quite similar to my dd in behaviours, (diagnosed HFA).

I often find other people don't quite get it unless they spend time with her, when it becomes much more apparant, therefore warranting assessment.

 

She has the right to be assessed in her own right if you and nursery are expresssing concerns, don't let them fob you off by saying her behaviours are expected due to having a asd sibling.

 

I hope the consultant considers your concerns seriously and you get some answers, loads of luck to you all xxxxxx

[shortie]

If i were you i would write down everything you can think of where Jas is "differant" and things that worry you the most,thats what i did when i first spoke to my little girls consultant,the problem is that girls can "mask" their problems really well.my DD's speech was very delayed,only saying single words when she was DX,she fools people now because she can say sentences but there mimiced from tv or me even,her speech has come on but mainly at home where everything is routine so she knows how to ask for food(still single word mostly or she will throw in a please now and again)or to tell me what dvd she wants to watch but alot of people can still be fooled by it!!You know her best so if tomorrow doesn't go how you think it should get a second opinion!!

[pearl]

Hope all goes well for you tomorrow. Let us know how you get on. <'>

[butterfingersbimbo]

<'> <'> how did it go?