Well we did it!

[Guest guest]

We went yesterday to the pediatric developmental specialist with my

grandson Lucas. And we were pleasantly surprised. It was in an older

house right on the edge of the University of Oregon campus and she was a

very nice friendly younger looking doctor and invited the three of us to

sit in a comfortable room with lots of toys and puzzles and proceeded to

go over the questionare my daughter had made out in advance about my

grandson when he was a baby up until now. Lucas kept busy playing with

the puzzles and toys, would do one for awhile then put it all away and

take out another. Was so tidy polite and well behaved he was.

I was glad I got to be a part of it as I did not know in advance if

I would get to observe anything. But come to find out I was pretty

important since I had begun to care for Lucas when he was just 2 months

old while my daughter worked. He was the youngest of her three kids I

cared for. So we went over how he was frightfully afraid of the spray

that came out of my sink faucet. I had bathed all three kids in there

but he was the first one who screamed bloody murder when I turned the

spray on! Also how he was a bouncy maniac, he laughed when I said he was

a maniac. I got him a bouncer thing to sit in and he actually bounced so

hard sometimes I was afraid he was going to get brain damage or whip

lash! Really.

How they noticed he did not talk in his 3 year class but talks

fluently now using big words and long sentences. How the recommended we

get him checked out but we chose to wait. How he would fixate on one toy

like in the 3 year class the teacher kept a red binocular toy up on the

shelf just for him and when he got anxious or to bribe him to do some

work she used it. And yesterday he remembered it, said yes he did like

the red binoculars. That boy has a good memory.

How he was a great drawer, did pages of telephone poles and could

explain each detail in each one. We brought a sample and one he was

working on of a village he said, rows of houses and businesses and

labels on each one like the name of the store we go to, Mcs, our

church, etc. He knows my house and others and she asked him where my

house was and he pointed it out. He has amazing attention to detail when

he draws. We went over what a picky eater he is how he mostly eats

things white or vanilla, is a big kid, tall and big for his age and has

mostly lived on chocolate milk and other kinds of milk and yogurt all

this time, will eat chicken, tuna, and cheese pizza also, but many

things he cannot eat. Our biggest problem was when he had pneumonia he

would not take his medicine even though the pharmacist insisted it was

good tasting, if his mother put it in his mouth he would gag and throw

it up! So we had to take him to the hospital for a shot in his butt.

We talked how he gets a very negative opinion of himself at times,

says he is a loser, he is a failure, you hate me when we try to correct

him. Just says it over and over, you hate me don't you, you hate me

don't you. Noooo I tell him I do NOT hate you. He yearns to be loved and

accepted by other kids, his big brother can be very rejecting of him

though as he thinks he is a pest, kind of normal really for a big

brother, but poor Lucas feels sooo bad. Yet they play and wrestle and

have fun also at times. It is a love hate relationship.

Also he is doing poorly in school in second grade, is behind on math

and reading and writing, doesn't want to do his work yet when he was

about 4 he knew all his letters and would write out the alphabet and

long words and could read books and sound words out. We thought he would

be a wizz at reading and writing because of it but has fallen behind.

And he gets stressed out doing bath also, can do it but doesn't want to

do it, and if we talk about it, like I want to practice addition or

something, he says no he does not want to do it right now.

Is very polite.

Oh yes is afraid of toilets and bathrooms, mainly the flushing, has

waiting all day long at school to get over here to go, then I must go in

with him, turn on two lights and sit in a certain place. He has to wear

mostly cotton sweats each day, will not wear jeans or slick fabrics.

Won't wear a slick jacket had to wear a cotton hoody.

Good thing about him is he has overcome many of his fears, he can

actually go in the boys bathroom at school but nobody else can be in

there and he will pee in the urinal, he swims now also and loves it and

used to not go into the building even. Would just scream hysterically.

Will eat some things now he did not before. Can be influenced with

logic, explain how he needs the food to grow as big as his dad, explain

if he doesn't do his school work he will have to stay in second grade

and he'll be the biggest one in there and feel out of place has made him

try to do more homework.

So that is the first step, the doctor will get the records from the

school, all the tests and assessments he had there last spring. Next

visit she said she will work with him individually. She mentioned he

sounded like he had forgot what she called it, sensitivity to sounds,

etc. Also she mentioned occupational therapy..we'll learn more in the

weeks to come.

Wow! I wrote a book, thought some of the newbies would enjoy hearing

about my grandson, he is about the sweetest little guy I know. Oh yes I

did not mention how he gets upset sometimes when he is tired and can

hit, this is when he says you hate me, I am a loser, etc.

Jump in wherever you want!

Much love and best wishes to you all,

Carolyn, in Oregon, gooooo Ducks!!!