Introductions

Hello! This, my friends, is Little Froggy.

She's going to be four in September. She loves frogs, bouncy castles, Hello Kitty, and My Little Pony. She goes by many nicknames. Boogerbutt, Sweet'ums, Baby. Every night before bed she's Mommy's Favorite Froggy. I'll write about that another day. But the point is that this, my friends, is Little Froggy.

And this,

is Little Froggy on her first day of school.

It took a lot for us to get to this point. I've been home with her for a bit over three and a half years. The plan was actually to homeschool her when the time came and to give her the freedom within her education that I so wanted but never had. Clearly, the above picture was something we never thought we'd have to take. At least, not like this.

Little Froggy was such a placid, happy baby. She hit all of her milestones, and though they were typically somewhat late in coming she seemed to take huge leaps whenever they did show up. She went through the Terrible Twos just like any normal kid. At around two and a half she really started coming out of it and started shifting back into the sweet, placid, easy-going kid she'd been before. Then, just after she turned three, something changed. I couldn't quite pinpoint what happened or exactly when it happened but suddenly, the tantrums got worse. One day, she started screaming at me instead of trying to talk to me like she had before. Granted, she hadn't started expressing herself very well at that point, but the efforts seemed to just stop. She'd repeat the oddest words when she heard us say them but she wasn't trying to communicate with us like before. If I was on the outside looking in I'd probably see an overindulged, spoiled, bratty child whose parents always caved to her wants until she learned that all she had to do was scream. As her mom, though, I saw the changes as they happened. I saw how our rare bad days began happening more often, and with greater severity. My husband didn't quite believe me when I began telling him how awful she was being, but after a while she began doing it to him too. Then, she started doing it when she'd go to MeMe and Poppy's house. And after a few months, my family began realizing that I wasn't crazy and I wasn't overreacting to minor things.

It took a bit longer before things hit their breaking point. Around Thanksgiving last year I began having what I described to my husband as little freak-outs. When we started shopping for Christmas I could hardly get through a trip to the store without having to stop and sit down and gather myself. Then, I had a real panic attack. It came out of the blue, not triggered by anything related to Little Froggy, but after I'd had a long day with her. It confused me and I was terrified. Finally, after I calmed down, I realized it was a panic attack and that it was because I was so stressed with Little Froggy that my tolerance for anything else was gone. Even little things were getting to me like never before. So I told Daddy that we had to do something. We made an appointment to see her doctor the Monday before Christmas.

That was the first time the "A word" came up.

He warned us that it could be mild autism. We took it to heart because he's not the type to warn you without good reason. He had watched her in the office and based on her history and her behavior while we were there he thought we should take her and have her tested.

Now you have to understand, until recently many insurances wouldn't cover testing for autism. I believe in Florida we have laws about it now, but my doctor advised us to go to the state for testing. For our purposes they'd suffice, he said, and if she received a diagnosis they'd offer her services that we wouldn't have to fight with insurance over.

So, we called ChildFind.

Of course this was during Christmas break and it took them two weeks to get back with us. When they did they told us that April was the earliest they could see us. I was heartbroken because I was already struggling to keep it together most days and I wasn't sure I could wait until April to start what I knew (from friends who are teachers, and who have been through this) could easily be a six month long process. I had my husband call back to ask why, exactly it would take so long--after all, I could hardly believe they were booked solid every day until early April. So he called, being the good husband that he is, and fortunately we were put on their cancellation list.

We were in about three weeks later.

The test went well and they said there was a chance she was autistic so they sent us on to the next round of testing. That testing we had to wait until mid-March for. While we waited for March to roll around she stopped sleeping as well at night, so for the rest of January and part of February I felt like I was listening to screaming all day and all night. Then, sometime in February the screaming began to fade. The sleep problems remained but it's not so bad when you aren't being yelled at all day. By March she was talking a little more again but still nowhere near where she should be.

After they finished the second round of testing they told us yes, they thought she was autistic. It would take them a few weeks to write up their reports, check each other's reports, get them mailed off to the IEP people and then for the IEP staffers to get with us about a meeting.

So finally, after all of that, we finally got our chance on May 20th to find out whether they'd help her or not.

Which brings us to today.

She qualified for services through the school board and started ESE Pre-K. They have a speech therapist come in several times a week to work with the kids and she'll be with other little ones who, like her, have speech issues (among other things).

So that's our story. She's got an amazing teacher and a really nice class. I think she'll do well.

On another day I'll tell more about Little Froggy and her individual problems but I think I've said enough for now. Wish us luck as we embark on this new part of our lives!