Right after Evelio turned 2 years old, we had a court date for paternity testing at the local child support office. Of course his father did not show up, but Evelio and I still had to go. The waiting area was tiny and there were at least 40 people in this area. I was afraid to put Evelio down because there were a lot of little babies. I held him in my lap and he became extremely agitated. He began a major meltdown. He bit my cheek, scratched my neck, pulled my hair out, and broke my glasses. Everyone in the room was staring at us. He also banged his face into the window busting both of his lips. There were several comments made by others in the room about my parenting skills and the way I was handling the situation. I asked the receptionist if she could possibly move us ahead of others because of my son's behavior. She refused. Evelio and I were the next to last people on the list. He had to endure 2 and a half hours of waiting in this room full of people staring at him. I started crying because I didn't know what to do. I didn't have anyone else with me, and Evelio was completely out of control. I took him outside the office even though it was freezing, I thought maybe he would calm down. He was still screaming and throwing himself onto the ground. A young man came outside and with a frustrated voice, asked me, "Can't you control your kid?"
That was the last thing I could take. I walked back into the office and told everyone, "Listen up! My son is Autistic. I have to keep him in my lap to keep him from attacking your kids. You all are talking about me and him as if we're aliens or something. As far as my parenting skills go, would you rather me let him run around so he can hurt your kids? I hope you all feel really good about all the crap you have said about us now." Not a soul would look me in the eyes, and no one apologized. That day was the day I decided to ask his doctor for some kind of behavior medicine.
I had been against medication before. I was scared that medicine would make him a zombie. But, I couldn't handle his behavior when it got that way. The doctor decided to try Risperdal. We started at a very low dose and gradually raised it over the next two weeks. It helped immensely (for a while at least). He had a seizure a few months later, and 4 seizures the month after the first one. Referral for neurologist. Also a referral for geneticist to check his chromosomes for abnormalities. . .
. . .a year full of appointments out of town.
The neurologist appointment was the first that year. The doctor scheduled an EEG, which yielded no abnormalities. He prescribed Evelio, Zonegram, for the seizures. He also scheduled a sedated MRI in April of that year. It was so difficult to see the doctors put that gas mask on him while he was fighting them. I cried the entire time I was waiting for the MRI to be finished. Results were that he had slightly delayed myelination in his brain. Neurologist said it really wasn't anything to worry about. I got a second opinion and that doctor said the same. (Whew! Relief).
Then came the appointments for the geneticist. They did blood work and urine samples. I had to leave the room while they took blood. They had to strap him down on the table. It was traumatizing for both of us. Results showed there were absolutely no abnormalities in his chromosomes. I was relieved, but, at the same time questions were raised as to why he is Autistic if there is nothing showing as abnormal!
The appointment in Oklahoma City was scheduled for June. They were extremely nice to us. Their observations and testing results were that he was Autistic (big surprise!), and also expressive/receptive language disorder, and clinical seizures.
When he turned 3, I had an IEP meeting with the school district to get him in a program called, "Little Plato House". This program would allow him to attend school Monday-Thursday from 1-3:15pm. I loved his teacher and the program. It seemed as though things were going to go well. Evelio was still having meltdowns, but I was learning how to deal with them a little better. I was so full of hope that he would make a ton of improvements seeing as he would be attending school. . .Satisfy it to say, I would be disappointed.
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