Pre Kindergarten Special Needs Screening
We waited in the school hallway on a chestnut wooden bench with decorative arm rests.
There was a television mounted to the wall in front of us, a perfect way to keep the boys attention, being we arrived 20mins early.
I briefed Krisjon about what we were going to do (simply telling him we are here to talk to a lady and mommy will talk to her a lot, but I would like him to talk to her as well). He gave an anxious look. I slipped a purple lollipop in his pocket and he smiled, I said "This will be here so if you try your hardest to be a big boy, when we leave, you can have it. He agreed.
Promptly as the clock stroked 1:45pm we noticed a small framed woman walking down the hall. She had her arms crossed initially but as she got closer begin to smile and ask if anyone by the name of Krisjon was here. I politely smiled back and said yes. We introduced ourselves to one another. Krisjon quickly filled with anxiety and starting swinging at me. I picked him up so we could follow Ms. R down the hallway. Krisjon smacked my cheeks really hard and started warping into some sort of heavy snake in my arms. Kenya and Krishon quietly witnessed this, as they followed close behind. The school psychologist, led us to a room with 3 additional specialist. The room was small and quite stuffy, there was an over sized wooden table where the trio was sitting, all their laptops strategically placed in front of them. As I walked through to take my seat I noticed the floor could use some attention. The atmosphere was intimidating at first, but they quickly made us feel at ease.
I instinctively pulled a chair at the table where the school representatives were sitting and though there was another vacant seat, Kenya chose one away from the table. I introduced myself to everyone and turned to introduce Kenya. I let them know that she actually was the one who carried the boys, and I invited her to the table. I'm not sure why she didn't choose sit there initially, but I really wanted her to get the full experience.
If only you could have seen the looks on the specialist faces...priceless. All their jaws were hanging like really...She gave birth to them? Why do they favor you? But you seem to know so much and be so comfortable? Why didn't she sit at the table immediately? Yes, their expressions said all of that.
As we preceded, I opened my notebook and wrote down the names and titles of every one in the room. I then waited for the next cue.
Some how a sense of calm had come over my sweet boy. He ceased the squirming and fighting and just kind of relaxed and took it all in. His eyes had zeroed in on the toys in the corner near the window. A woman in a brightly colored floral dress smiled and in an inviting tone asked if he would like to come and play. He softly spoke "yes." I was so impressed.
I stood and helped him from behind the table making sure he didn't loose his balance over my purse or his other mama's feet. As Krisjon reached clear ground I let go of his hand and he made his way over near the window, where the toys and speech pathologist were waiting. He seemed a bit timid but was okay.
I took my seat and begin to get further acquainted with the all women panel. The woman seated at the end of the table, closest to me, began talking first. She seemed the most relaxed of the group wearing a gray hooded sweat shirt and occasionally cracking male bashing jokes.
She introduced herself as Ms. M, the school's Special Education specialist. She mentioned she also had a family member on the spectrum. Ms. M talked about how unique everyone with autism is and that her loved one was a genius when it came to numbers but suffered dramatically if he were asked to write a letter or read a passage from a book. Continuing to talk openly, the education specialist told us she had been in Virginia since 1985 and would love to go back to her home state of South Carolina.
Ms. R, who was seated directly in front of me, and to the opposite side of Ms. M naturally picked up the social cue to begin to speak next. She brought up her brother and a cousin who were both on the spectrum, her brother not being vocal. The psychologist gave a soft smile and flashed her thumb to reveal a silver ring designed in puzzle pieces, the symbol of autism awareness. A smiled and gave a tiny enthusiastic hand clap, wishing my awareness items had of arrived by now, so I too could show off my awareness goodies.
Ms. R, honestly made me the most comfortable, not only because she had her own emotional attachments and experiences with the spectrum but because of her sweet soft demeanor. She was conservatively dressed in neutral tones though her eyes were slightly glassy. I couldn't figure out if she was becoming emotional from our conversation or if it was her standard look.
As her words begin to cease, I peered over at a very young woman with flipped up hair and over glossy lips. She wore glasses that gave her a more educated mature persona. She seemed to stand out amongst the older more sophisticated group. She parted her lips and said "I'm Ms. B, the school social worker."
After a short awkward silence, the school education specialist quickly picked up again. She asked what was going on. We discussed with the team the behaviors we were seeing at home and gave a little background information such as who lives in our home, his doctors name and the date he officially diagnosed. They made a copy of the diagnosis (that I bought with me from the doctor) and continued to open up about certain behaviors and asked if Shon (Krisjon's twin) was exhibiting any of the behaviors as well.
Eventually Ms. W, the speech pathologist joined us back at the table (Krisjon wanted to continue to play). They looked at one another and Ms. M asked everyone on for personal opinions as to if further evaluation was needed.
The speech pathologist spoke first. She was hesitant, but mentioned because of the behaviors we were seeing at home, she thought it was a good idea. She offered her insight on what she gathered from observing and interacting with him while we were in our meeting. Ms. Washington said she was very impressed with his language skills and the fact that he knows all his colors, the names of objects; and if she asked him a question, he answered it appropriately.
The remaining specialist unanimously agreed that further evaluation should be done, just to be certain. This would help figure out the appropriate classroom placement.
So what happens now is we have to set appointments with each specialist (or someone from their office) individually.
The social worker needs more detailed background information.
The education specialist needs to assess him academically.
The psychologist needs to assess the way he thinks and processes.
The speech therapist needs to further evaluate his communication skills.
The speech pathologist and the education specialist agreed to do their evals together, they scheduled the appointment a little further out (March 18th) because the education specialist is having surgery. She did mention however that she hopes to be back then, but if she is not she will just call to set up her eval at a later date.
