FAS-update

On Tuesday we drove to Atlanta because Lil' Man had a doctors appointment early Wednesday at the Marcus Autism center.  They have a Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Drug Exposure Center.  This is the center where Lil' Man received his original diagnosis of partial fetal alcohol syndrome.

We arrived at 8:30am, and left just before 3pm.  Why on Earth would a clinic that deals with FAS kids on a regular basis make an appointment last hours. It was hard for the kid to keep it together.

The appointment stated off with the Neurodevelopmental Psychologist. She took Lil' Man alone to be tested (which I hard warned would not work).  She lasted 20 minutes before coming to get me for help (ha ha). The testing lasted for over two hours. 

At one point she told him to "try try try" as it was clear he had given up.  He looked at the psychologist, and said "I am trying stupid." It took all I had not to bust out laughing.  (Great Mother aren't I?)

While I was in the room with Lil' Man and the Psychologist, the Hubby met with a social worker.  Hubby said she asked a few questions and that was it.

Once the psychologist was done testing Lil' Man I took him to the waiting room, and it was my turn to be grilled by the psychologist.  I must have answered at least 500 questions off her her damn sheet of paper.  I better get some good results.

We also met with a special educator, we talked about Lil' Mans school experiences, and what type of support he receives. She is going to come up with suggestions of other things we can do to support him in the classroom.

We then took a short break for lunch, before meeting with the geneticist.  He was a very caring man, and remembered seeing Lil' Man last year. He did a complete physical before  going over what FAS markers that Lil' man has.  Last year he had 14 markers, this year only 11.  Between 10-15 is considered partial FAS.

In the end he recommended that Lil' Man remain in our home.  That we consider reducing his medication, and that we meet with a psychiatrist, that  only sees children with FAS. Only problem with that is that the guy he recommended is 3.5 hours away.

We will have all of the results back mid May.  I was proud of how Lil' Man held it together during the 2+ hours of testing.  I was surprised that he didnt know some of the answers. All in all it was a good appointment, but I didnt learn anything I didnt already know.  I will am curious to get the test results