On The Medical Front

Today was Katherine's 8 year check up at the doctor. We were a little behind (she should have gone in January which would have been a year from her last appointment) but late is better than not at all. She gained 5 pounds and grew 4 inches in a year and a half. We talked a little bit about the bed wetting because, despite my best efforts not to let this happen, she continues to be embarrassed and concerned about it. Based on her history with blood sugar issues he recommended a urinalysis and culture and the girl who can pee at the drop of a hat? Couldn't go. So, we brought it all home for her to do here, and I will just bring it back. The doctor was as charming and humorous as usual. The sad news is that he will be retiring in September. I am a little sadder about this than I would be under normal circumstances, I think because he was my pediatrician as a kid from the age of 2 on. I am going to specifically request that my kids files get passed right on to his son, Dr. B the second, who we have seen a few times and really like.

In other sort of medical-related news I went ahead and sent in the E2 form to the Autism Research Institute based on my observations of Julia. They score it free of charge which was nice, and I just figured it would give me a baseline to go by. The results were exactly what I thought they would be. She scored a -26. What this is means is that it would be unlikely she would be diagnosed officially with autism, but that she would be described as "autistic-like." Not quite sure what the difference is but I think it means that she displays some, not all of the traits of an autistic child. The exact description said this: "Children who score -16 or lower on the E2 form are generally not regarded as truly autistic, but instead are typically described as "autistic-like," has many autistic characteristics," etc. The lower the score, the less likely the child is to be diagnosed as autistic. Please note that most "autistic-like" children will also benefit from the highly structured educational programs that have proven beneficial to autistic children. Form E2 should not be used to exclude children from appropriate education." It was interesting to have the form scored professionally regardless, and it will give me something to share (beyond what I have planned already) with her developmental pediatrician at her appointment next week.