Salt and Tequila

I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel again. Juuuuust barely.

We had a 2:30 appt with a psychiatrist at Kaiser yesterday afternoon. We didn't leave until 4:45.

The school psychologist had already spoken to him, and the psychiatrist essentially re-evaluated him, running through the long series of questions about pregnancy, early development, social milestones, sleep patterns, sensory markers, relationships with family and friends, history of interventions, educational assessments, etc.

(You'd think by now I'd have these answers down pat, but at one point in the interview I realized that I was answering questions about Saul by remembering his younger sister's infancy. Whoops. Wait. Go back. Wrong kid.)

So.

We walked out of the appointment with a NEW diagnosis, one which is still related to our previous diagnoses of:

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (but not quite)
Intermittent Explosivity Disorder and ODD (but not quite)
Not Bipolar, Not ADD, but maybe something wholly temperamental
Possible Asperger's with a touch of ODD
Not Asperger's, not ADD, a little touch of Intermittent Explosivity Disorder, and Anxiety, but not ODD

Today we come to, courtesy of Kaiser, Asperger's. (But not classical Asperger's. As in, he's much more social than you would expect, but on the other hand, he doesn't have successful social relationships. Nor can he read many social cues.) Or it could be a little touch of Very High Functioning Autism (Which is really sort of almost the same this as Asperger's.) With either the AS or the HF Autism, my son also has some Anxiety, which may exist on its own or may be the result of his chaotic experiences.

And we walked out of the psychiatrist's office with PRESCRIPTIONS!!

Oh, Hallelujah, God in Heaven.

The psychiatrist would like to address Saul's impulsivity first so that some of the behavior modification techniques he knows but is unable to access can come into effect. At that point we'll see if the Anxiety lessens with therapy. If it's still affecting him, then we'll start a round of anti-anxiety medication. To address impulsivity we're going to start a trial of stimulants (ADD medication, essentially).

Dear Butcher and I went in there with the idea that if we were handed a prescription for Ritalin and a referral to Anger Management courses, we were going to tear someone's head off. Actually, it's rather amusing that we walked out of there with two prescriptions for Adderal and Ritalin and referrals to parenting groups and we're satisfied.

Because we have a long term treatment plan, specific dates for re-assessment, a medical professional who really "gets it" that this kid exists on a spectrum and does not easily fit into only one diagnosis, and a variety of drug options to explore, each drug trial presented with a rationale for its timing and use.

After we got home and instructed the neighbor kid on how to take care of the dog and the guinea pigs while we are in NY this weekend (I'm not sure she was Listening. Must write a Note to Re-explain!), I took Neo out shopping for a dress.

Good grief that kid is conservative. Neckline up to here, hemline down to there, must have short sleeves at least. Bought some pants. High waisted only. I couldn't find any that she said fit.

**hanging my head in shame** She ended up in four colors of Dockers. Ever seen Best in Show? She's turning into Parker Posey. Photo from California Brown Coats

After shopping we went to a Mexican restaurant where I had a margarita. This started a lengthy discussion about when it is or is not proper to drink. How do you know when you've had too much? Do you know that you're getting drunk while you're drinking? What does a hangover feel like? Etc.

For someone who's been posting a lot about crying and salt, it was nice to simply experience salt on the rim instead of being drowned by an ocean wave.