Semantic Pragmatic Disorder

Last Thursday was Dakota's appt. with the Developmental Specialist in Omaha. We were running a little bit late leaving that morning. What's new, right? We are late to everything. We dropped Mikayla off in Pickering because she wanted to stay with Kayla. We didn't know that part of the interstate on our way to Omaha would still be closed because of the flooding. We just didn't think much about it I guess, it seems like it had been awhile since that happened. Suddenly we were forced to exit the interstate and there were no signs for a detour or anything. We couldn't believe all the water still in that area. It looked like a huge lake where there is normally no water. So anyway, we were lost and didn't know which way to go. It's not like this exit was for a big town or anything, it was basically the middle of nowhere. For reasons like this, it would be a smart idea to have an atlas in your vehicle. Luckily, my dad works 2nd shift so he was home that morning and was able to look up some back roads on his computer. One of the roads he told us to take was closed too. It was a mess but we finally made it to Omaha. I called the dr. office to let them know we were late and they almost cancelled our appointment. It takes months to get in to see this doctor and I was told that she keeps a tight reign on her appointments. I almost panicked but they let us come. There was something about the doctor that I didn't really like, but she seems fairly knowledgeable. She talked to Dakota most of the time and didn't really ask us about any of our concerns. She said she wanted to slowly take Dakota off the abilify, and slowly start Lexapro. She wants to rule out social anxiety. She also mentioned a language disorder, but didn't say what it was. She was going to give us a handout on it before we left but forgot. I was kind of upset when we left. I misunderstood and thought that the doctor thought that Dakota only had social anxiety and a speech disorder. I knew there was more to it than that. John's mom told me to have the doctor fax the handout to her and she would bring it to us. She got it yesterday and brought it by. The name of the disorder is Semantic Pragmatic Disorder. It's a language disorder, but it's more than just the way someone talks. It's actually a disorder that is in the Autism Spectrum - like a higher functioning Autism. Lots of times doctors confuse it with Asperger's. There are a lot of things we read in there that sound a lot like Dakota. One of our concerns lately with Dakota is the way he walks. He just has an odd gait when he walks, and his feet have been turning in more and more lately. An odd walking gait was actually mentioned in this handout on this language disorder. I thought that was strange. What would one have to do with the other? Anyway, I think we have a long road ahead of us during Dakota's school years. But John and I feel like this is what he has, and it's nice knowing exactly what we are dealing with.

Last night was the 'back to school' night where the kids brought in their school supplies and found their classroom. Mikayla seems to be pretty excited. The preschool room has tons of toys in it so she probably thinks she gets to play all day. Dakota isn't so excited. But I saw that the other kid in his grade that has Autism is in his class. They don't know each other, but I think they would be perfect friends. Dakota won't be the only one who acts a little "different" and I think that will do wonders for his self-esteem. He's been really down on himself lately, saying that he is slower at everything than the other kids and he's been saying that everyone hates him. I think that has gotten worse this past week since we cut down his abilify. I did email his teacher about his issues and about him having trouble controlling his bowels. She was very understanding and said that she will do all she can to help Dakota. She told me to tell him that she will not be upset with him if he has an accident. That is a big relief. Oh, and Dakota's classroom is the same classroom I had when I was in second grade - 20-something years ago. It was really neat (and weird) to be in there. It wasn't nearly as large as I had remembered. Anyway, school starts tomorrow. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Dakota doesn't have a meltdown and John won't have to drag him into school. I'm hoping he can make some friends this year. I think that would make things so much better for him.