Six Month Pediatrician Check Up

Way back in July, I really can’t get over how quick this year is going, we took Ethan for his six month pediatrician check up. This appointment was initially scheduled for April 2014, which would have been over a year since Ethan’s diagnosis. I did think they had misprinted the date at first, but on the advice of our key worker I gave them a call. I was able to take a cancellation appointment, the appointment was moved forward by nine months. 

The pediatrician was running late and the appointment did feel a little rushed and a bit like twenty questions but this is how we got on. 

When we first walked into the room there was a table set out with toys for Ethan to play with. There was also a recently qualified health visitor sitting at the table, Ethan joined her and started to play. 

My mum came into the room with me and we sat at the desk and started to answer all of the questions the pediatrician asked. Basically asking what Ethan could and couldn’t do, this also happened in his assessments in January. The pediatrician was trying to gauge if Ethan showed any signs of improvement. It makes you feel like you are in an interview and we found ourselves debating if we thought Ethan could jump or not. A question, if asked in a different situation, we could have answered right away.     

This was the same pediatrician who diagnosed Ethan in February. The same one that I felt I would have needed to battle to get a diagnosis for Ethan. She also made me feel like Ethan is the worst case she has ever seen. She more or less told us that because Ethan was being assessed for autism at such a young age he wouldn’t be high functioning. 

High functioning is a phrase I cling to, to me high function means being able to function in society and live independently. Something I long to achieve for my little boy.   

At this appointment I didn’t feel like her opinion had changed, she told us that Ethan will need a lot of support at school and without a doubt he would need a statement. This wasn’t news to me and hopefully this is now something we are working towards.  

The one thing that did really upset me was that she advised me not to have any more children. This is something that I have spent many hours questioning, something that I’m not ready to blog about yet, but hope to in the future. The fact of the matter is there is a one in five chance that we would have another child with autism. I have known this for a while as it was one of the first things I looked up. I really feel that this is a personal decision and one that the pediatrician should have perhaps been a bit more tactful with. The pediatrician’s reason was that she thought I wouldn’t cope with more than one child on the spectrum, considering she has only net me three times I thought it was a bit harsh for her to judge. 

No one knows what the future holds, and of course I would love a crystal ball to see what our future holds. Forrest Gump was completely right when he said life is like a box of chocolates!