My Haylee Bug

I don't really know where to start, but I know I need to record some feelings and happenings over the past few months...
Haylee turned four years old last month and it's going to be a big year for her!  Not many other four year olds will be working as hard as she will be this year.

Haylee is our sweet spirit from God.

Haylee has been behind in her gross motor skills from early on in life.  She didn't roll over until nearly nine months and didn't walk until she was 22 months old to name a few big mile stones.  That is all she was behind on though.  She was involved with the Help Me Grow program here in Ohio.  They issued her orthotics for her shoes, instructed me on physical therapy activities to do with her until she turned three and received an IEP (individualized education plan) from our school district.  Haylee then started physical therapy at the school. She talked, was learning to write her name, and loved to have fun and was a typical three year old, until this past October.  In October 2012, at the age of three, Haylee quit progressing all together.  In fact, she began digressing.  With Ryan arriving in November of 2012, we waited things out with Haylee to see if it was just because she had gotten a new little brother, but in January of this year, Aaron and I knew something had to be going on because her digression was quite severe.  We scheduled a pediatrician appointment for Haylee in February and with his (Dr. Paul Bunch) recommendation, we contacted the Department of Developmental and Behavior Pediatrics (DDBP) at Cincinnati Children's hospital.

Dr. Bunch told us it would likely be the end of the year before we would be able to get a diagnosis for Haylee.  Not because testing takes that long, but because it takes that long to get an appointment.  Feeling discouraged because I didn't want to wait around until the end of the year, I called an old friend of ours that had worked at the DDBP as an intern, but had since moved to Florida, Brian Olsen.  Brian was able to give me some tips on possibly getting in sooner for testing.

I followed Brian's advise, I called and told them I didn't want to wait and would try some other routes in the mean time.  I was able to meet another psychologist at the DDBP for some classes that were supposed to help us manage Haylee, but after meeting me, she (Dr. Greenwell) pulled some strings and helped get Haylee an appointment for evaluation in March or April.

I was able to meet with the psychologist that begins the testing for autism and then several evaluations followed.
Finally, on May 31, 2013, Aaron and I met with the developmental pediatrician, Dr. Valentin.  Aaron and I had a very strong feeling that the diagnosis would be autism and we were right.  Dr. Valentin was very helpful.  She watched Haylee during the appointment, gave us advise on where to start and told us her concerns.
Dr. Valentin told us some atypical things that she noticed with Haylee, including the fact that she digressed at a later age than most children that are diagnosed with autism.  Because of this, we will be taking Haylee in for an MRI, EEG and some extensive blood work to be sure we aren't missing anything else, including epilepsy.  These appointments begin on the 22nd of July.  These appointments will be following up with an appointment with a neurologist that specializes in autism and then we'll meet again with Dr. Valentin in late August.
I forgot to mention that in May, I met with Haylee's physical therapist, Cindy Heinze and Cathy Ogilvie (Haylee's assistant that helped in the preschool class she would visit once per week).  At that time, they increased Haylee's IEP to include speech therapy, and occupational therapy in addition to the PT she already received.  They also infomed me that she would qualify for the special preschool class they have at West Elementary.  This class only accepts six children from all over the district.  Aaron and I are really hoping to find out a little more about this preschool and that it offers Haylee everything she'll need since receiving her diagnosis and learning more about what would be best for Haylee.  If this preschool program doesn't, then we'll look elsewhere and have some other leads that look very promising.
If this West Elementary preschool program turns out to be what everyone has told us it is...great, then we feel incredibly blessed to live in Fairfield, OH.  I mean, we already do, but if this is the case, God has put us here for our children's sake.
Olivia has had awesome care by one of the top notch orthopedic surgeons in the country when it came to her hip dysplasia and now Haylee being seen at DDBP, Cincinnati Childrens Hospital which is one of the best regarding autism treatment and such.
To be continued.......