Cole and Abe headed to Costco- don't worry, there is no air bag up front and Costco is less than a mile away!So, as a follow up to Cole and his therapy- things went great. He had been doing so well in speech, that for the last three weeks that he was still eligible to receive services (the state literally only covers kids until the day they turn 3), they sent the OT only (plus, they justified it that he will get speech services like crazy in preschool.)
Basically, the first time she came, she just sat to observe Cole and his behaviors during a speech session. Of course, Cole being the charmer that he is, was a near angel while Cassidy (his SLP) was there and his OT (Raina) was beginning to wonder what she was doing there. She, at a later time, told me she was grateful she stuck around that day, because you better believe the instant Cassidy left, Cole began to act like his self (his self around me, anyway), and at that point Raina thought 'Oh, this is why I'm here.' (this was after he walked up and smacked me for talking about him, and when Raina told him that that was unacceptable behavior and we don't hit people, especially mommy, he turned and screamed at her to "shut up."-- We can't really have that happen at school now, can we?)
She had several opinions of Cole and his behaviors, as well as suggestions and tips that have been a tremendous help to me. In a nutshell, Cole is too smart for his own good, causing him to feel he is a peer to adults (and sometimes, superior to adults-especially me) and definitely superior to his true peers. Raina also commented that in all her years, she has never seen a child so concerned with/focused on what the adults were doing and discussing, and chiming in like he did (especially for his age.) She feels there are also many other factors into his behavioral issues, that are too boring and intricate for me to enumerate here- but just know that I (as well as those who spend time with Cole) are having to make adjustments, all for his ultimate benefit. She also helped me realize things about myself and the way I parent, which has been invaluable. Because of the time constraints, we crammed 3 information-packed sessions into a week (basically, we sat at the kitchen table and just went back and forth for an hour+ at a time.)
Cole's therapy overall has helped him/me/us more than I would have thought possible. The State Coordinator also wants me to look into a developmental children's psychologist or developmental pediatrician (which I will be discussing with Cole's pediatrician at his upcoming well-check for a referral) just to help give me some more understanding and guidance at how to adapt and handle a child like Cole (you may think this all sounds crazy, perhaps extreme, but I have discussed this matter to death with trained professionals, and a dear friend who has been through a very similar situation, and they all agree that this is all/has been more than necessary to help Cole, especially for once he gets to school and to make sure he never becomes labelled the 'bad kid'- which we are quickly approaching that irreparable territory, and that would be more than awful, because he is anything but a bad kid, he just needs some extra help right now, and we've been fortunate enough to receive that help.)
I am more than grateful though that I have had the help and direction with all this that I have had. My aforementioned friend tells me all the time that she wished she had known about all these services (or that they had even had these services) when she was dealing with her son, and I will forever be grateful to Cole's pediatrician for the referral (and forever drive to Scottsdale to see her!), because never would I have known that any of this would be available and be so beneficial to my son and our family.
I think that will be it for the serious stuff- now I'll just go back to writing about Cole coloring on all his new toys, or pulling out scissors to cut open packages of Reese's PB Cups that he helped himself to out of the upper pantry, or getting himself a can of pop out of the fridge in the garage- all of which has just occurred today!
*On a super side note- with all this happening I have been more than terrified of Cole getting kicked out of preschool for behavioral issues. I have been informed that because we have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) in place, they can't kick him out! Woo hoo! Though I am sure I will still get called into the office regularly- though I am really hoping and crossing my fingers not to!
