Neurology Appointment

Julian had his follow up with his Neurology doctor, Dr. Abdalla Abdalla, today at Akron Children's. I've decided to post this short, to let everyone know the basics of what was said at the appointment, however, I am VERY overwhelmed right now, and feeling kind of alone, so explanations and such of medical terms and meanings will come in a later blog. Soon though, I promise. Julian will follow up with Dr. Abdalla in 4 months. Due to the lack of information I feel I obtained today with a very weighty diagnosis, I asked Ryan to make an appointment with Julian's pediatrician for Wed. Sept. 30 to go over options and be directed into the right direction.

My mother took Julian and I to his appointment today. We received the report from (results) the speech and hearing evaluation that was done on Julian a couple of weeks ago. It says that he indeed in classified into the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Basically, from what I have gathered on the internet so far today, the is on the outer sides of the spectrum, so not considered 'severely autistic'. I asked the Neurologoist 'where do we go from here?'. He said that we did need to find out why Julian has autism, what part of his brain in affected, and what kind. So, yes, MORE testing. I mentioned that the test that was ordered (muscle biopsy) at cleveland clinic could not be done because our insurance does not cover it, and he wrote a referal to the University Hospital *still not sure about that, but not seeing any options*.

I spent a lot of time researching when I got home from that appointment. Lots of sites with all kinds of information. I have found some grants that can be applied for to help obtain the test he needs (mirroarray) that we can't afford, as well as educational toys for his special needs that are crazy in price. I applied for one that I was able to apply for online, the rest have to be downloaded, printed, and mailed, so I have asked my mom (via email) to print them. I'm also going to keep looking and send some via email to my mother in law to print too for us so we can get them in. One thing I'm sure of after searching all day online is this is going to get pricey.

I'm scared for my son. I'm nervous. I'm anxious about his future. I'm worried how we are going to be the best and get the best for him, because he DESERVES it.

As far as Julian's behavior recently, he has gotten slightly more aggressive, he hits himself, routine is more important than ever, and he seems to be smarter every single day. He's the most loving child I've ever seen.

The main site that I'm looking on right now is autismspeaks.org. Check it out.