Results & Re-trys

Well, Alan & I made our trip to Children's this morning to go over the results of the neuropsych testing. No surprises in what was revealed, it was pretty much what we'd assumed it would be. The biggest issue that Teddy has is his attention, & great lack thereof. He is off the charts for attention issues, which in turn affects everything his does. His scores, from IQ to memory to executive functioning, were all in the "impaired" range. This is the new name for what used to be mentally retarded. I'm glad they changed the name, but nothing changes the fact that Teddy has some pretty serious issues.

The neuropsych recommended that we try counselling, maybe attention meds, & behavioral therapy to address Teddy's challenges. We've tried counselling before with no obvious results, so we aren't real gung-ho on that. His neurologist has said she thinks that stimulant medications (most ADHD meds are stimulants) could increase Teddy's seizures. And though it's been about 3 years, we've tried the behavior therapy route before too.

BUT...

All of these things were tried in the past, & it may be time to give it another go. Maybe another counsellor would be a better match for Teddy. If we can ever get in to the psychiatrist at Children's that specializes in kids with epilepsy, we might find an attention med that would work for him. And another behavior specialist might work out better than the one we had.

So we might be pursuing some of those avenues, we'll have to mull it over & see what we think here after the weekend.

All in all, if you don't know Teddy & are just looking at the numbers, his future looks very very limited in what he will be able to do. But knowing Teddy & loving him, I know that he is always growing & learning. He moves forward every day, despite how hard ordinary things that we take for granted are for him. He's a sweet & loving boy who has a mom & dad that think he's the best thing in the world.

And in the end, isn't that all that really matters?