Moving forward

Okay, so if you've read my blog much, you probably know that Caleb seems to struggle a lot. He has a hard time with change (don't we all?) He has difficulty in large groups. He seems on edge frequently. I know, a lot of kids have similar problems, but Caleb seems to have more. More intense reactions, more difficulty transitioning. Brent and I have, for quite a while, talked about how it seemed different than temper tantrums. It seemed different than reactions of the kids his age. When he started preschool, he really struggled to participate. He struggled in every day things, like potty training, like holding his crayons the "right" way, like cutting with scissors, like trying new things. He always has been able to make friends easily.

I've brought our concerns up to our pediatrician...but since we had to switch doctors after Caleb turned two, I think things got a bit lost through the cracks. Caleb had one of his classic "meltdowns" during his well child check for 4 years. I asked if it was normal, the pediatrician said it was more than normal, but "not to worry about it." Well, when the difficulties in preschool began, we decided it was time to pursue some answers.

I know this sounds like it's going to be this big, dramatic blog, but it's not. :) Anyway...long story long, we had an appointment at the anxiety clinic on Wednesday. Our occupational therapist said that she thought Caleb was showing classic signs of anxiety, but she couldn't offer a diagnosis because she obviously isn't trained or licensed to do so. We survived an absolutely horrible appointment with a different psychologist who claimed to be pediatric and specializing in anxiety. Let's just say we didn't go back for a second appointment. Once we got to the psychologist that our (different) pediatrician recommended, it was much better. The diagnosis is generalized anxiety. Treatment is cognitive behavior therapy. We can alternate occupational therapy with the cognitive behavior therapy. Medication is a last resort, and no one thinks it will ever come to that. Which is good, we already decided that we'd pursue absolutely every other option before we'd even consider medication.

I'm excited. I'm hopeful. I'm relieved that our concerns have been validated. So many things that Caleb has struggled with are making sense now. I'm a reader....and have been getting books on childhood anxiety. It makes sense. It's changed how I react with Caleb and how we deal with the meltdowns. He's responding positively already to the changes we've made, and we haven't even started therapy with the psychologist. Our occupational therapist has been wonderful and has given us a lot of activities to teach Caleb coping mechanisms. I never knew pediatric occupational therapy would help that, but we see the results.

So, that's where we are at right now. :)