I was at the pediatrician’s office for Tallie’s 18 month well visit check up. We had been waiting in the examination room for just about an hour, it was almost lunch time and my girls were acting like they were about ready to lose their mind. Their doctor finally comes in and starts complaining about the previous appointment. He acted very irritated and was even rolling his eyes about it. I was annoyed that he didn’t even apologize to us for keeping us waiting for so long and thought it was unprofessional of him to be talking about another patient's visit like that.
Within 10 minutes of being in the room he basically wanted to diagnose Tallie with Autism. It started with him asking questions about her language. Up to this point Tallie hadn’t said a whole lot, but I really hadn't been that concerned. I thought it was actually pretty normal with her having an older sister who was very outgoing and demanded a lot of attention.
So the doctor started asking me questions like, does she get really upset by loud noises or different textures. I said, no she doesn’t. He asked if she waves good-bye or responds to her name and I said, no she doesn’t. He asked if she would follow a two step command, like if I threw a ball and told her to go get it and bring it back to me would she. I thought to myself, well she’s not a dog I guess I haven’t tried playing fetch with her. He then proceeded to throw a toy and asked her to go get it. Not surprisingly, she fell to the floor and started throwing a tantrum. I thought that was pretty normal that an 18 month old would be irritated after spending over an hour in a small room and probably getting pretty hungry at this point. Her doctor however thought it was very concerning that she wasn’t looking at us to see if we cared that she was throwing a fit. It was at this point where he said that he had definite concerns about Tallie showing signs of Autism. He said, hopefully I’m completely wrong in a couple of years and we can look back and laugh at this. Meanwhile I am doing everything I can not to completely loose it and start bawling like my 18 month old was. He told me to contact the school’s special education department and to have her evaluated and then he left the room. After that I had to hold back the tears for another 5 minutes while Tallie got two shots. As soon as that was over with, I grabbed my things and my girls as fast as I could and felt the tears forming as I pretty much ran out of there. I remember calling Jeff and calling my mom on the way home, trying to explain what happened while completely sobbing over what had just happened. I was in such a state of shock. I thought I was just taking my 18 month old in for a well visit and I left with the mention of Autism from a doctor who obviously failed the course on how to use good bedside manner when delivering shocking news to a family.
Over the next few weeks I spoke to several family members and friends who knew Tallie very well. All of them said they thought it was crazy. They hadn’t noticed any behaviors from Tallie that would make them think that she might be Autistic. They all thought it wasn’t a big deal that she wasn’t saying a whole lot yet. Many of them talked about how much she likes other people, how she loves to cuddle and how happy and laid back she is. This made me feel a lot better. I needed reassurance that I, as her mother, hadn’t completely missed all the signs that were so apparent to her doctor during the visit.
I did want to be 100% positive about it though. So I called the school and had them come out and do an initial evaluation on Tallie. They said they didn’t have any concerns about Autism but thought she was behind in her communication skills and recommended starting her on speech therapy. This kind of took me by surprise, just because she was so young. I just wasn’t sure it was necessary, but I also knew it wouldn’t hurt. So I did decide to start doing that. I also took her to Children’s hospital and got her hearing checked, that checked out fine as well. Mostly I was just happy that it seemed that autism was not an issue.
Oh and I found a new pediatrician for my kids as well. I am very grateful to have found Dr. Krenzer. She has been such a positive change and a great support through all of this.
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