Sitting, Waiting, and Wishing - By Jessica Wilson
When my son turned two, he was not meeting milestones, and our pediatrician suggested Early Intervention. Unfortunately, we were put on a waiting list for several months until a therapist became available to work with him. We eventually had a wonderful Developmental Therapist become available, but even she agreed that our son needed more help than she could offer. We agreed speech therapy along with seeing an Occupational Therapist would be more beneficial, still, none were available.
Everyone involved in my son's care was concerned about him possibly having Autism. We were referred to a Developmental Pediatrician but that came with a long wait as well. Months went by and our son was deferred. They had never even laid eyes on him. Questionnaires via mail do not diagnose Autism. We were back to square one. Two months before my son’s 3rd birthday, we drove all the way to Riley’s Childrens Hospital for an Autism screening, which by no surprise only confirmed his Autism. We received 6 months of Early Intervention before it ended due to him turning 3. At 3 years old my son was still nonverbal and unable to follow one step commands and struggling with communication every day.
Early Intervention gave us a quick and smooth entry into Special Education where he now receives some services. Speech, being most important, is often in group sessions and completely virtual. I am thankful for what I have received and especially for Early Intervention doing everything they could. My son deserves more though. We are in the works of finally being able to see a Speech Therapist and receive speech and food therapy, but we still have a couple more months of waiting. By then, my son will be 3 and a half years old. Time has not been on our side. It feels like we are wasting the most crucial time of development in his life.
This area needs more services and resources for Autistic children. Speech and Occupational Therapists are almost nonexistent. We cannot rely on the schools that are already short staffed to do the sole work for our children. They deserve more.
