First week of school and diagnosis

Ava and Miss Shaunell Petersen her first preschool teacher  

Ava's very first day of school was Tuesday 8/27/13

Ava's 2nd day of preschool

We have officially made it through the first week of school!!! Monday we went in and met with her teacher and got a tour of their classroom. It was very cute and full of LOTS of fun things! She showed us Ava's little cubby and told us how their days worked. I expressed some of my concerns and she reassured me that all would be fine.

Tuesday was Ava's first day. We drove over to Grama's house and tried to take a few photos even though Ava wasn't really feeling it.  I got her over to school and took her in. She immediately went and sat down at a table with all the other kids like it was no big deal. I did a good job and didn't cry even though I had a really hard leaving the parking lot.  Dan went back to pick her up that day so I didn't get to talk to her teacher about how the day went.

Wednesday I took her in and got a chance to chat with her teacher before class started. She mentioned that Ava had had a really hard time transitioning between activities but seemed to really love the other kids and gave out a few hugs and even used the bathroom when they took her which isn't always easy for Ava in new places. I came back and picked her up and her teacher said the day went a little better but was still hard, but she had done excellent in adaptive PE, better than they had expected.

Thursday was Ava's evaluation in Salt Lake with the Developmental Psychiatrist to determine if she has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It was a very long evaluation and I was so proud of Ava for how well she did even though she was being asked to do so many things that were hard for her.  She acted pretty much true to how she normally is and we were able to talk to the doctor for at least an hour before they started testing.  They did some general testing that they had done before at the school district to gauge her cognitive level. She said she did great and had a good IQ, so we know she is cognitively fine. She however did diagnose her with ASD in the mild-moderate range. We discussed treatment options in addition to her being in school. She brought up the fact that Utah is one of the few states now that has 0 mandate for autism benefit coverage and autism therapy is very expensive.

We discovered today that for Ava to receive the amount of therapy that her doctor wanted to see would cost us 4000$ a month (or close to 50,000 for a year). We were to say the least EXTREMELY shocked. I cried for a few minutes alone in my bathroom after speaking to a few services realizing that we cannot afford any of them even on their minimum basis. I felt somewhat defeated as the doctor had stressed so heavily how important ABA therapy is and how important it is for Ava's future to start it immediately.

We have a few more avenues we are going to try (a few suggested moving to a different state!) but I'm praying the right situation will come to be and that we will be able to get Ava the therapy she needs to succeed. I'm just trying to have faith and learn as much as possible in the mean time!

Today was her 3rd day of school. I took her in and dropped her off and she immediately recognized her name tag and picked up and took it to her seat. I was so excited to see that! They were doing painting so I helped her get situated and get her paint shirt on. She just seems so at home in school! At the end of the day I got back a few minutes early and they were walking back to the classroom after an activity. My eyes scanned the little crowd of 3/4 year olds for Ava and there at the very end of the line was little miss Ava holding hands with a cute little blonde boy! I giggled a little and sent Dan a text. When I walked in Ava was so excited to see me! I stayed after again to tell her teacher that we did get a diagnosis and that I would bring in all the papers once I got them from the doctor.  All the while Ava had lined herself up in the bus line with her "friends." Her teacher told me that today went much better than the previous 2 days but she was still struggling with a few things but she felt like in a few weeks she will have their routine down.

When getting her buckled into her car seat in the car I asked Ava how her day was. She said "she fell down" and I then asked her if she fell down or if another girl fell down and she responded "she was sad" and so I asked again was she sad or her friend. "no no, friend, she was sad" and so I asked if her friend was okay and she said "yes she's very happy" I was so happy to hear her trying to tell me about her day and something she remembered! I love this girl more than words can ever ever ever say. For me Autism isn't the end of the world, its not exactly what I expected or anticipated for Ava but I know we can make it through and that Ava will do wonderfully!