We've got a diagnosis!

I can't believe it's already been 2 weeks since Dakota's appointment in KC and I haven't even blogged about it yet. I was really nervous about it, and so was Dakota. We had to get up really early since the appt. was at 8:00 and I was afraid we would sleep through the alarm clock (like we do on occasion). If you miss an appointment at this place, you never get to make another appointment there again because of the long waiting list to get in. We were actually a little early for once. The appointment took 4 hours. The psychologist met with Dakota alone first. She talked to him for awhile and he had to do some sort of tests. Then she talked to me and John for a long time. Every time she would ask us a question about Dakota, Mikayla would answer her. And she was always right about the answers, lol... She definitely knows her brother. Then she reviewed all the information from Dakota's doctor and the school, and had us meet back in a room for the results. She diagnosed him with Autism. She said that he met the criteria for the 3 main categories. She is also keeping his diagnosis of anxiety and ADHD that Dakota's regular doctor diagnosed him with several years ago. When we finally left there, I almost started crying. It was the biggest relief to have a diagnosis. We've been waiting on this for years. They contacted Albany Regional about Dakota – they are the closest place to us that helps children with autism. They sent me a bunch of info and had me fill out a bunch of stuff to see what services we qualify for. Still waiting to hear back on that.

The other day we received a big report in the mail of Dakota's evaluation. There was an area where the psychologist put her observations of Dakota. Most of it was stuff I already knew... but she also stated that Dakota has unique facial features. So now, I'm paranoid that my son is weird looking and I'm the only one who doesn't know. You know, parents probably always think that their kid is cuter than what he/she really is. Was it really necessary to comment on his physical appearance? I mean, I haven't heard anything about people with autism having any sort of specific facial features.

Then, a week after Dakota's autism diagnosis was the elementary school shooting. Apparently the shooter had autism, so there are people saying really mean things about people with autism – like they are violent and need to be locked up, etc... It's really frustrating how closed minded people are. Besides all that, the school shooting has bothered me a lot. I worry about sending my kids to school now. I'm really relieved that there is another snow day tomorrow. With tomorrow being the “end of the world”, I've just had bad feelings about things happening with crazy people thinking it would be funny to do something on that day. And then the other day someone is Savannah was arrested for planning to do something tomorrow. I know I worry too much. I guess it's obvious where Dakota gets his anxiety from.