the news

The other day I was telling my friend that I was nervous about Jett's upcoming evaluation with the child development department at KU.  I told her that my prayer and my wish is that after he is evaluated, the docs come in and tell us that although Jett has     (blank)    it is a very mild form of   (blank)    and, if we work with him consistently and teach him in the right way, he is likely to grow up to be normal... no, even better than normal because he will still have all these amazing strengths that he has minus the problems.

Today we had his big appointment.  Hours of evaluation for him and questions and discussions for us.  Jett loved every minute of it!  He got to play and talk his heart out to this very kind doctor who seemed way more comfortable playing with children than talking to adults ;)
And I finally got to talk with professionals about my wonderful baby boy and all his quirks and charms.  I realized while relaying the details of Jett's personality, that in the last 5 months since the initial realization that Jett has some type of ASD, Jett has made a TON of progress.  I answered so many of their questions with "Well, he used to do be really bad with that, but has gotten way better in the last few months.".  I'm not sure if it's because he's gotten older and therefore improved, or if it's because 5 months ago we had this huge realization, cried for a few days (me, not Pete) and then got to work trying to help him.  Probably the main reason is that, at the realization of his ASD, we started praying our hearts out for our sweet little guy and his uncertain future. God is amazing and incredibly generous.

Back to the appointment: the last step was to meet with the whole team to go over the results.
The doctor started off by asking us if we happened to see 60 minutes last night.  It was about a boy who started college at 10 years old.  He is a brilliant but *normal* kid. He also happens to have autism, but through his childhood, has progressed in such a way that no one can tell in the slightest. He said he can see a similar future for Jett.  They told us that Jett does not have aspergers. He loves other kids and people too much to qualify for that diagnoses (among a few other things).  They said that Jett actually has high-functioning autism, and it IS a mild form.  The doctor said that if we continue to work with Jett, and have him work with OT's and other resources, Jett will flourish.  He said he wouldn't be surprised if Jett was reevaluated in a few years and he showed no signs of any autism spectrum disorder.
I cried.  My wish and prayer for my little boy!  That's exactly what I wanted.  They said we've been doing a great job with him and to continue doing what we are doing and gain new skills and knowledge from all these resources tricare has available for us. He will need to learn social cues, and social boundries. And they encouraged us to try and broaden his range of interests so he doesn't fixate on subjects so much.  There are lots of things he needs to be taught according to his own unique learning style. And that is going to involve learning new parenting skills and a lot of work on my part.  But I feel like his beautiful, kind heart and absolute lack of any kind of malice will be a big strength for him.  There is so much HOPE, and that is huge.
AND they were just CHARMED by the angel-boy and his SWEET little voice, and unbelievably happy disposition. He makes everyone smile everywhere we go.  You can't talk to Jett and not smile. He is SO adorable. Awesome day. I am so full of hope.