A general update on the state of Ollie

Oliver has some issues that were causing me concern; I’ve listed them as follows:
• seems to be behind his peers on his communication/speech skills
• Displays severe separation anxiety
• Does not play well by himself
• Does not interact will with his peers or make eye contact with them or his teachers at school
• Hits
• Throws items
• Has major meltdowns, particularly in public, particularly later in the day
• Constantly has a stuffy nose, snoring, and breathing issues.

As a result of these things, I’ve taken some actions. I contacted the AZ Early Intervention Program, and they came out to visit with Oliver. He has qualified for one of their programs, and we met today with his “Support Coordinator.” She was super nice and helpful. We’re going to get a Speech therapist and a DSI/OT person who will meet with him once a week for an hour and help him catch up to his peers and work on all of his issues as well.

Oliver is on Flonase (Fluticasone Propionate Nasal Spray), has been for about 2-3 months. The Flonase seems to help with his breathing at night, but has not completely cleared his issues. We also went last week and had a blood draw to try and determine what is causing his allergies specifically, to see if there is something we can do specifically to limit his exposure to his allergens.
We went to the audiologist today. She says there is definitively fluid behind his ears, which is probably causing some hearing issues. She did a test with air to see how “flat” or responsive his ear drums are which is how we know about the fluid.

Then we climbed into a sound booth, where sound would come out of the left or right speaker. They had a little mickey mouse with lights, so when he looked at the sound the lights would come on.
She said that children Ollie’s age respond best to voice, not tones, but he basically didn’t respond if it was less than 20 decibels. In a child his age they like to see them respond at less than 10 decibels. He did not respond well to the tones.

Basically, she told me, what that means is that if we are more than 10 feet away or speaking quietly, he probably doesn’t hear us and that to him, it may sound like we are talking underwater no matter what. I wonder if he freaks out at a busy restaurant or in a nosy classroom in part due to these issues?

This confirms what I was thinking was part of the issue. He did have a blood draw for Allergies, which are probably what is responsible for the fluid in his ears. We are getting a referral for an ENT. I’ve been told, anecdotally, that some kids with this issue get tubes in their ears and suddenly catch up speech-wise in a matter of a couple of weeks. I doubt he’d be that fast, because I think he has other issues, but just thinking about it is amazing. Something so fixable could be his major issue?

We’re getting to the bottom of it and working with him for all of them. I’m really hoping we can catch him up to his peers.

I just want him to be healthy and happy, and ideally, smart. I love him so much. I am so grateful that he is in my life, that he survived his illness, and that he’s on the road to getting the help he needs.

Friday we played 7th Sea, which I love. Bobby is running a game and it’s just so nice to play something so familiar and fun. Liz joined our gaming group for it, and she’s always a blast to play with. I’m playing an Avalon Mage with Sihde blood.

Saturday we had some family over to go swimming and took care of car issues. Some of Landon’s cousins had a great time in the pool, and we got to catch up with the family for a while.

Sunday we mostly relaxed, I took some pictures of a newborn for a friend.

Whole set is here: Baby Sam – a set on Flickr

Watched Dr Who, not sure if I liked this week’s episode. It was better than last week, at least.

Going to start planning Oliver’s 2nd birthday party (Set for Nov 5th). I did talk to the Ped a little bit about Oliver over the phone. She’s going to get us a referral to have some allergy testing done, see if maybe it is our pets or something. I should hopefully hear back from the program tomorrow, and can work from there as to what we want to do.

Beyond that, I’d like to do Oliver’s 2 year pictures and a family photo shoot. Which also means I might as well get some pictures of all of us. Ideally I’d like to find another local Mom (or Dad) who is doing the photography thing and do a swap. I’ll take her family pictures and she does mine. I’m willing to pay for the service too, but a swap is both easier and cheaper. I’m starting to price a little bit already, but if anyone local knows someone, let me know.