following on from here https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...128555&page=18
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following on from here https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...128555&page=18
Ah ha! I see, it isn't just us at all.... digs not only a hole, but a HUGE dam which we can all float in and hopefully the kids will wear themselves out while we float with our vodka and cranberry..... (tis the season and all).
Swimming is awesome for ASD kiddos. Their low muscle tone makes it hard, and a different exercise for them rather than for NT kids (neuro typical). BUT it helps work on the core muscles and therefore is relaxing for them.
*sneaks over and grabs a welcome bag for the rum of course.... now.... margaritas anyone?*
*maz waves empty glass(s) at christy*.....:pray: PLEASE TOP ME UP LADY!!!!!
Since W was little Id run a shower for him, he loves the feel of it pelting him yet HATES the rain :dunno: I breed weird kids.
We had a lovely date, W and I....not one wig out :dance:, happilly licking his double scope chocolate icecream and wearing his Australian flag thongs cause darn it
'they just dont make the correct American stuff here in Australia mum'
Yes my W is now hell bent on everything American. He hate's being an Australian and tell's me we're all dork's which is nothing like all his good American friends (:ROFL: I have no idea so dont ask) mind you he tell's me this in his fake American accent. Im actually considering buying him an American flag and mkaing him remember all the states ect cause im NASTY!! :nahnah:
*maz skull's last bit on vodka from bottle*
hick...Inow have old lady feet from having them soak in this dame to long now
Don't forget the NYE lotto draw ladies - if one of us wins we can build ASD utopia.....
ohhhhh ASD utopia eh? Lotto.... off to do....
Maz, did W know that we just went to the US? Maybe he cottoned on to us going to Disneyland and the fact that I still have a bit of an American twang.... really, maybe its just me he loves :P
Okay, I'm making some sorbet for Christmas dessert.... cranberry, lime and vodka.... nommmmms
Just a quick pop in, its nearly bedtime for the kids and I have Krispy Kreme donuts calling my name beside a pot of tea.
This paed was not a douche. He took in everything I said while watching Ripley play and interact.
He came to the conclusion that at this point in time he wont diagnose anything other than a severe developmental delay. He assessed him to be more like an 18-24mth old mentally than a 36mth old. Which could account for the speech issues and his behaviours (and the no toilet training). He agreed he does have a few notable ASD tendencies. So the plan of attack for now is regular OT and keeping up with his weekly speech. He wants to see us in June to reassess where he is at (and hopefully miracle of miracles he will be closer to his age capabilities than he is now) and most likely we'll see a child psych for an assessment as well after that. Im happy with that. I understand he wants to give Rip 6 more months to try and get ahead without delving into diagnosing a disorder. I dont think there will be much change but I would love Rip to prove me wrong.
Now I have to find a private OT to fit us in ASAP and the $$$ to pay for it seeing as Centrelink refuse to give us Carer's allowance &$%@.
Its so nice to finally have a weight off my shoulders with some support and a plan in place. Seeing as we dont fit the A/A/S diagnosis at this moment I'll go back to lurking but THANKYOU THANKYOU for all your help, advice and support.
Hey guys,
Another one who is struggling at the moment - today he had issues when I dropped him off (and now I understand why ppl drink before midday), and then the teacher (who is a holiday program fill-in, normally she is just an assistant there during the term), found it hard to get him to listen today, and this afternoon we had to stop at the butchers (which was crowded), and I wanted to throttle him, and then trying to get him to draw a welcome home sign for MIL (who has been away for 6 months and arrives tomorrow morning), would have been easier getting hens teeth.
I am so scared about prep - he hates writing and drawing and all of that.
And I can't relate to his hatred of all art/writing, because when I have to do it with him I feel like shaking him and saying you aren't even trying (which I know isn't fair or true, but it just gets to me sometimes).
Oh, and this morning he spat on his sister, so that was a great morning (and DH has a huge project at work which MUST get finished by midday tomorrow when they shut down, so he hasn't been getting in until 8pm each night, and he is stressed out and isn't much help even when he is home).
So it all makes me want to run away from the ASD, it's too hard... I'm worried I'm going to end up liking (not loving) DD more, because she is just so much easier to handle.
I've been looking into respite care through the council, which i was going to use for help in the afternoon as that's when I find it hard.. I was supposed to get some help in general because of some health issues I have, and then i sent them to diagnosis of aspergers from his psychiatrist, so I was hoping for some extra hours. I had read somewhere you automatically get 3 hours per week with an ASD diagnosis? Is that true... anyway, on the form the wrote 3-4 hours per week, which I know i should be grateful for, but I was like, that's it? 2 complex health issues and 4 hours a week?
But I guess there is nothing I can do about it, unless we want to pay for help privately. The council is $4.90 per hour, and even that will add up with the amount of other medical costs we have for everything. You know when you are over the medicare safety cap in January you have too many medical bills.. I think we are up to $3k this financial year already.
I contacted Autism Victoria to apply for the FACHSIA funding, just waiting for the paperwork.
We have OT weekly (but now a break for holidays), and we have had 6 months off speech, but will start that up again next year when he starts prep.
Having a big lead up to the new australian law of "when you turn 5 and are a big boy starting prep that laws says you aren't allowed dummies anymore"... should be fun... but this oral fixation isn't good, he becomes more and more addicted to it, and it isn't helping his speech issues.
We want to start swimming lessons (oh, and anyone out there with HCF extras, they pay $150 per child per year up to $300 a family for swimming lessons), but I wanted to get him some private ones first, because of his auditoary processing disorder and one bad time at a friends pool (and i was literally 3 steps behind him and he still sank to the bottom and I had to jump in a pull him out), I just want to make sure he is ok before joining a bigger group. But it is $35 for a 1/2 hour private lessons at this place that specifically deals with kids with disabilities, as opposed to $15 for a 1 hr group lesson, and I just don't know if it is worth it, or if i should try and convince my friend who is a swim teacher to do some basics with him at my other friends pool in exchange for some massages.
Has anyone got any advice about class sizes etc for swimming?
We are also getting special graphite orthotics for his toe walking. Applied for some victoria aids & equipment funding. Was supposed to pay the physio $88 to submit it for me, and she told me it is a lot of paperwork etc for her, but my friend is a paed physio and told me it was rubbish, the only paperwork is the form i filled out anyway, plus a like 3 line letter from the physio to accompany it (which she or the GP can write for me), and I can send off the application myself anyway. The only thing I have to do is call the orthotist myself rather than the physio giving me his details to go for the fitting and give him the funding details. So glad she told me as I was about to pay $88 for a 3 line letter & a postage stamp to RCH, and an email to the orthotist. My friend has one she recommend so hopefully it will help, but we won't get it until around March/April apparently. Otherwise they will cast him with plaster casts to stretch out his leg muscles.
Anyway, I had better run and see what the kids are up too... too much quiet for my liking
Hope you are all well :)
P.S. Freya - if you find an OT who has some special extra training, they can accept mental health care plans for OT sessions. You get them from your GP in 6 appointment blocks, up to 18 for a year. That's what we did, and the OT thought we would be able to claim the initial $350 assessment/report back, but we had no trouble at medicare. Usually we pay $120 per hour, and we are out of pocket with the mental health care plan $10.25 per session. You can still get them even if you have FACHSIA funding, so we are going to use them again next year (another 18), to try and save as much of the other funding for speech and the rest of OT
Otherwise you can get an EPC from your GP which will give you 5 sessions with OT or speech etc.
Yael - drop the swimming lessons for now. Starting school will be enough for him next year. If you want him to be safe in the water I would suggest just hanging with him in the water yourself to help with confidence over summer.
I'd love to get Brendan into swimming, but he hates the water. He can't have a bath with any more than an inch of water.... even then he just turns the little tap and has a shower (we have a joint system). We have been able to get him onto a trampoline, so when we get one of our own that should help us.
The biggest issue we are having atm, is with violence. I posted a separate thread the other day https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...d.php?t=151088
I'm looking in to getting him to a see a child psych. The last time he saw one (excluding for his ASD assessment) was at 3yrs corrected and even then she only sat in the corner taking notes while the paed did the assessment. Before that it was at 2yrs corrected. Going to give the State Child development centre a ring in the new year to see if we can go through there (would be so much easier as he is already on the books there) in the meantime my CHN is having a dig around to see if she can organise one to come to us (wooo even better, but not getting hopes up on that one)
:grouphug: I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas xx
Argh. I made the mistake of talking to Rip's godmother (who is an OT) about the paed appt today and she's got me second guessing the delay diagnosis because she feels he wouldnt benefit from OT because physically he is average or above par with motor skills and weight/height etc; which according to her wouldnt fit with a delay diagnosis.
I just figured the paed was indicating he has a COGNITIVE delay, not a physical delay, which is why he doesnt understand consequences/trouble understanding instructions/physical aggression etc.
So now Im fugging confused.
ETA - :hug: Sally.
Yael: I would delay the swim lessons for now. Our class sizes are maximum four to a class for kids over 2 because parents dont participate. Our classes are $13.50 a lesson.
Sorry, wasn't clear about the swimming lessons - i meant to do them over the holidays as something to do, and then not to do lessons again until 2nd or 3rd term when he is more settled so to not overwhelm him. Somebody i know has organised a 1 week (each day) swimming thing in January.
Does anyone think sticking him straight into normal lessons is ok, or should i make sure he has something private first?
Id say delay any sort of lessons entirely until he is settled in school. Stopping and starting lessons in any capacity is wasting your money. Just swim with him as a family and save the lessons for later when you can have continuity.
but the OT can help witht the sensory side of things, and also teach him ways to cope when he is wigging out. It's not just physical therapy - tell her to put that in her pipe and smoke it!
Thats what I thought. We've decided to continue with the OT avenue for now and see what they say after an assessment.:
I must say I thanked my lucky stars he was his normal self as opposed to his my-mother-is-crazy-Im-an-angel self he was for his other paed appt. He played with 3 animal figurines and they spent the entire time we talked trying to kill each other with guns and knives. Pleasant listening :o Not to mention his usual 10000000 decibel volume. They could hear him out in the corridor.
Hahahaha! Mitch threatened to cut the psychs head off on the second appt. They tend to show off at the first one...
YEah.... OT's who specialise in Sensory Integration Disorder are more equipped than others. I have a friend who is an OT and who has said that she is no where near able to do what Matilda's OT does because she's not been trained in it and has no understanding of it, so I suppose different OT's have different understandings of things?
Yael, I have done the intensive weeks at swimming and they have been great. Not geared towards ASD kids, but great for holidays and having a routine.
Psych, Matilda refused to talk to the psych during her assessment. She just never spoke to her, had to have her assistant help her because M would go with her.
I need more wine....
I think we've only seen the Psych once and he told her how to do her job :ROFL: and asked her VERY personal quesitons :redface:
I understand were your pead is comign from Anna but you know what shiats me about it..you now have to fork out the $$$$ and find the help when he could put it down and you could get the careers allowance to help fund the help and a healthcard card for R so you can get reduced fee's.
We've had the 'services' here who dont agree with our Pead that M is on the spectrum :rolleyes: but they havent seen him in 4 months and he's getting worse. One of them rang me the other day and she couldnt believe it was him...yep he was screaming loud as hell and saying NO NO NO over and over whilst flappign his hands.
Ive gone from a tame W (in comparison) to a violent little monster....he headbutted me that hard yesterday a bite through my tongue ..*sigh* and then this morning he stands infront of me, tap's his bum and grunts whilst going red and goes''''ahhhhhhhh'''''. So Anna hun, I hear you and it drives me friggen batty!!
Thank go for sewing is all Ive gotta say...W just stayed up and watched Amazing medical stories on GEM becuase it had the young English man who Austic sophonet and draw's those fantastic buildings aroudn the world....he was totally captued by it. Our Pead has said that W is one but it was amazing to actually see someone who is.
We are trying to keep as much normality as possible until school starts, I personally wouldn't be enrolling in new things so soon before school.
We don't get carers for Brendan. Because he was prem his assessments are all based on corrected age, so even though he's delayed he's not *that* delayed when his age is corrected. (overall he fell just above the cut-off for a GDD diagnosis, if they had used his birth age he would have been diagnosed GDD then) It's so stupid and it really pees me off. We were told they wouldn't correct past 2, yet he's nearly 4. The whole prem crap is really starting to get to me now. I'm sick of hearing it, why should he be treated differently now. Sorry still angry with how things have gone down over the past few months.... good news is that if the school can't get funding for an aide they will fund one themselves for the first term. Being kindy he will only go for 2hr45min 4 times a week, so they shouldn't have too many issues *touch wood* once he has transitioned into it. We will be working on a plan for Brendan before school starts.
My main thing right now is getting Brendan in to an ENT to get his grommets done (and probably adenoids and tonsils too) he's been waiting 12 months already and is unlikely to be seen before June next year, despite having a mild/moderate hearing loss ion his left ear and a moderate/severe loss in the right, his overall permanent hearing loss is between 3-5% :( The system stinks all round and we simply cannot afford to go private :(
Best go to bed I suppose, have to try and get into the spirit of Christmas!!
:grouphug:
We've already applied for carers allowance for his global speech delay but they knocked it back the first time, then the CL chick rang me and said she dodgied it to look like I forgot to submit forms so I could redo them. She basically said to tick all the worse boxes because he *just* missed out on the minimum points used to decide yay or nay and she felt we deserved to have it. That was 3wks ago and I havent heard anything since but my online CL says we receive it. We also got a health care card but apparently only certain providers apply the discount rates (and the paed and speechie arent one of them) so we are still out of pocket $$$. Ive got to ring them after christmas and light a fire under their butts. If they knock it back again Im going to scream. We're already noticing the tightness of our budget now we pay $130 a fortnight for the speech therapy and we're supposed to fork out more $$$ for a private OT *sigh* I wish the public wait list wasnt so long but even then we move so much we would have to start again in each state and he doesnt have that kind of time to wait.
Better go and dress, we have speech at 9am today. Its looking to be an awesome day (note: sarcasm) the kids are already walking the fine line between the naughty and nice list............
Freya the assessment centre at the Royal Childrens @ Randwick have all the areas publically, you can ask for a referral to them? There is a wait, I'd imagine, but they do all the assessments, and will place him where he needs to go afterwards in the public system. HTH!
Mmmmmmm I woke up sick of course.... why not? Its been a fan-bloody-tastic week anyway *borrows Freya's sarcasm because I'm too cranky to get my own*
Hi all,
On the topic of swimming. Hamish does swimming lessons at the place were lucky enough I work. We actually have one on one lessons for asd kids. Hamish however is n a normal class of up to 4 kids.
He still hates showers and screams the place down and washing his hair is like your worst nightmare, but he can now swim yippee. I must say though it has taken every week for the last 2 years to get there. We off course are now having a setback as he has gone up a grade and now is at the deep end of the pool.
Apparently the water is different down that end and is harder to swim in .. GO figure so we have a weekly meltdown at the pool.
Its also fun and games at home, Lachie just has to look at him and its on, and of course no one is allowed in his room with out his permission and Lachie just invites him self in.
The 2 off them can not be near each other for 5 minutes without a fist fight breaking out. The joys of Lachie throwing tantrums and touching Hamish.
However we had a success today , he had his haircut. It seems we can get it cut at one place and that's it because they put spiderwebs in his hair...
Wishing you all a great Christmas xxx
I hope that everyone had a relatively stress free day yesterday. Both boys had a ball and today im paying for it :(
M go tup and started punching into W at 6am!!!! W then went spax and hit back....and then the melt down....frig me....I seriously have big celebration on day's like today...the aftermath :(
We still have a 4 hour car drive to J man's relop's in Droiune today and then back to inlaws (another hour)...but atelast the beach is close by and we can let them wind down there.
NOw to pack...god I bet I dont do that right either and will have something thrown at me no doubt :shakehead:
sigh.....is vodka at almost 8 to early????
Nope, never too early....
We're okay, treading water... always on the verge of meltdown....
Got the kids kittens from work that we were going to adopt anyway, so that has been a huge hit.
Hope everyone had an awesome New Years, here's to a fabulous 2011!
We spent the weekend (from Thursday to Sunday) camping! Was meant to be until Monday, but the kids had just had enough. Was great to get away.
The Speech Pathologist that did Brendan's Autism Assessment rang yesterday to let me know his report is in the mail and that he's been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Am feeling relieved that we now have an answer and that we can get better help for him. I'm sad that it had to come to this for him to get help, it shouldn't have to be like that... but anyhoo we are through the other side now and can move forward!
Just thought I'd update :)
Congratulations (ykwim!) for a dx that will get you lots and lots of help!
Pick up your Supermumma showbag at the door, welcome to the club.
ooo a showbag! :lol: :lol: :lol:
I'm hoping the report arrives this week, so I can take it with me Tuesday... we have a speech and OT session :)
are you sorted for the Early Intervention Funding? You need a piece of paper stating the dx of PDD-NOS and send it in - did anyone advise you on this part of it?
Supermumma Showbag info lol
-:
these contain full size bottles of Vodka, Scotch and Bacardi (since it's summer and all), Bubble Bath, Earmuffs and Henna for maintaining your locks and covering the greys. Also a spare blanket for you to hide under.
Awesome news Sally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well we are stagnating. Centrelink denied our carers allowance claim again so I guess we have tough choices to make. We are struggling even on Dhs wage to afford speech therapy weekly plus all the other various appointments. Centrelink gave us a health care card for him but fat lot of good that does for anything but medication (which we dont have). So it may mean taking Jett out of preschool he loves and the boys out of swimming lessons they love; or just cutting down his therapy and making the fixing process years longer.
So Im at my wits end. Got an appt with a child psych for tomorrow at 5pm. Apparently its a parent/s only appointment but she can stick that up her butt, Im takin the little hellion with me. For $188 she can put up with his crap while we talk.
hahahaha, yeah do that.
Clink just won't grant without a dx. It's not very much anyway...in the sea of the $$$ you have to spend. Maybe rethink going for a spectrum assesment. It's practically free under the mental health plan and if he scores within the right area you will have $12,000 to go towards all the therapy. If he doesn't score high enough, nothing lost.
In the end I went for it (even though I thought DS was borderline) and still not totally convinced its Aspy - wether he is or not remains to be seen but the help we got totally changed our lives.
I'm waiting on the report and paperwork to come yet, I was told over the phone that the report is on it's way. She mentioned a copy had gone to his paed, to DSC and one to me. ATM I know nothing of what we have to do lol.:
And that showbag is awesome :D
We were referred publicly in May 2010, some paperwork got lost in the mail and he had his assessment in December 2010. So the wait list is not really that long considering. Although we are in WA... but we had to wait a bit longer to wait for a team to come to us to do the assessment, it could have been done sooner if I went to them. It cost us nothing to do it that way.:
I had the same attitude as Lulu, it was worth a try.
:hug: Freya x
We had a psych appointment yesterday, parents only. I managed to get an appt within 24hrs of calling a centre called Quirky Kid Psychology. We talked for 1.5hrs and she said everything we described of Ripley, definitely is NOT normal now its just a case of figuring out what 'not normal' it is. She feels he possibly will register on the ADOS test as being a very high functioning autistic but she also wants to do the other test (a spina something?). She even thinks he possibly has ADHD as well. Definately Sensory Processing Disorder so she said to go ahead with OT. So in my eyes $180 well spent because finally someone is listening to us.
So I think our next step is a meet and greet session with Ripley in tow, then the assessments. Only problem is its going to cost us up to $2000. Unless we miraculously find somewhere public without a wicked long waitlist. Anyone here who could give me a head up on some reduced cost or publicly funded assessment options in Sydney? We are only here in Sydney until Sept/Oct, I have no idea at this point where we will be after that and DH is deploying mid year so I really want this all planned out before he leaves so we both can not stress about being up in the air still while he concentrates on coming home in one peice.
The other thing I was thinking of asking on advice of a friend is if they will bill the assessments under a Mental Health Care Plan, separating them into 5 sessions so the cost is completely covered by medicare. Anyone know of this being done?
Freya, Quirky Kids is where Matilda had her ADOS assessment. We took it one step at a time. I felt exactly the same, that someone understood and listened. We couldn't afford everything, but we did the ADOS, got a diagnosis and then got funding to do further testing..... it was better that way and she understood. We did it within a week of our first appointment. We got %75 percent of the ADOS amount back after the diagnosis. Then we got a health care card for Matilda from the diagnosis and the paediatrician set us up so we found funding and had some help through Autism Australia.... everything else was easy to get help for once the ADOS was done.
Hope you don't mind me ducking in here... we had an initial speech pathologist appointment today and she suspects our son is on the spectrum. I had had my suspicions but as he makes eye contact, smiles etc I thought it mustn't be. But she explained how the spectrum is made up of different areas. He has a pretty severe social communication delay so we need to follow up with a pediatrician next to see if we can get a diagnosis, then more speech therapy.
Anyway, I had some questions...
- Has anyone used the book "More Than Words" to help with social communication? What did you think?
- I had booked a hearing test for next week but my son doesn't respond to 'games' etc and wouldn't do any of the speech pathologist's things... so maybe a hearing test would just be inconclusive & a wasteof money? Anyone done one with an ASD child? How did it go?
Thank you!
Anybody out there? I know we dont have a diagnosis yet so I dont really belong here but we're really struggling :(
I'm trying to start researching where to from here, what the journey will entail... anything to keep me busy and feel like I'm a fit parent for the job. My H and I have been fighting, which we dont normally do. We can't seem to understand each other and we're both sad and confused. Today when my son had a head butting breakdown I was more aware of the problems he's having and I just start crying. The blinkers have come off. The hope that he'll start speaking like other children his age any day now is gone. I'm realising all the symptoms he has... they are all coming together now rather than just individual personality traits.
I'm so scared and sad. I want to be able to talk to my son one day. Im grieving the parenting journey I thought I was going to have. I want why questions. I want magical fairytales and fairies in the garden. I hope so, so much that when we start therapy with him he develops in leaps and bounds. Please :pray:
Anyone feel like sharing how they felt in these early days? What helped? How time (and hopefully progress) has changed things?
oh meow *hug* I"m sorry I wasn't able to answer earlier. I don't know how to start, our journey took years, but Matilda's speech was good, just her communication which was bad, if that makes sense.
The grieving process is hard. I mean when does it finish? I think I still go through times when I want my "normal" child. I want to pretend everything is okay and fine, and TBH we have times now where it is. Matilda's communication grew in leaps and bounds with early intervention. It was awesome for her.
Check out Maz's journey: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...d.php?t=106287
our journey is started here: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...d.php?t=106430
Thank you so much! I look forward to reading your journeys!!
It means a lot to read your post... I feel understood. Thank you. :hug: So glad to hear the early intervention helped!
I think my son and I have similar conditions as I had some of the same issues. I had a lot of early intervention and clearly it made a difference as I'm a normal adult (as normal as normal gets... what is normal huh?).
My H and I managed to talk better again and I'm just really looking forward to seeing a pediatrician and getting started now. At the moment, the idea of seeing progress and helping our son is giving me hope and it cheers me up again.
:hug: meow x
Brendan has regular hearing tests as he has poor hearing and ear health. We need to have two audiologists do the test, one sits outside the soundproof booth and does the actual testing the other is in the booth with us and distracts him and tries to keep his attention. The first 4ish (can't remember exactly, we've had too many!) tests were inconclusive, but they picked up fluid in the ears and the poor health, they also picked up that the drum itself wasn't responding well.
Early Intervention is definitely worth it. Without the last 3 years of speech and OT I'm certain Brendan would be a lot worse than he is now, especially his SPD.
I have been meaning to do this for a while. Just so I could lay it out. I feel like I am posting to no one though.. I know I am not and you ladies are just as awesome.. but damn I wish Lu was here to read it and tell me what she saw. :crying:
Snow Princess - Meet Princess
i'm hopping in here, as a maybe. Two people have suggested to me that bilby might have Sensory processing disorder or something like that. I don't know, but think i should have that idea checked out by a Occupational Therapist, to find out either way.
Many things, that i put down to quirks, apparently are signs of Sensory processing disorder. i have been looking at these things individually, not putting together the pattern.
i have no clue if it's even worth chasing up, but my inner voice says, what if it IS, and there are some answers to be had. so i'd better chase it up.
So i either might be a regular (if she DOES have it), or an embarrassed gatecrasher (if she DOENS"T have it), in which case, i will do a quick retreat and leave you all in peace.
cheers
It was strange, finding this thread, and seeing the posts by Lulu. God i wish she was still on this earth.
HA - :hug: Can't ever hold a candle to our Lulu, she's irreplaceable - but we will be here. It won't ever be the same, but it will be something. :hug:
Gigi - I read this thread and the previous one through last night and felt like she was still in the room with us. :hug:
If Bilby does have SPD (and remembering some of your posts when she was much littler she seemed to show some traits which, now I know more about it, could have been early indicators - I remember how hard it was to settle her as a baby and that she'd scream for hours - could have been a sensory thing? Euan was, and still is a bloody nightmare to settle and it's probably mostly sensory, we just haven't figured out exactly what yet), then early identification is going to help. No question about it. And if she's not, then it won't hurt either. So getting her checked out would be win/win. Ask for an OT to do a sensory profile. :hug: matey. Could also be that she has mild sensory issues and the recent changes in your lives have brought them to the fore. A friend of mine thinks her daughter may have mild SPD but it only ever manifests when there's big things going on - she noticed it most when they moved house. Euan's OT put it really well - we all have sensory issues to some degree, just that for the vast majority of people the threshold is much higher so it is generally manageable, but stress lowers the threshold.
I hope that you do end up as a (never be embarrassed) gate-crasher, but if not, you know we'll welcome you with open arms.