Suspected ASD – Our Journey So Far – Part 2

This is part 2 of our suspected ASD Journey with Cleo so if you haven’t read part 1 then you can read it here.

It has been a few months since I last wrote a post and quite a bit has happened for me to update you on. due to lockdown things have taken longer and we are still waiting for Cleo’s blood tests and hospital appointments but we have had a phone call appointment with her Paediatrician and her physio and also a face to face appointment with her physio at the local hospital.

I guess that is something and we are making some progress.

For her consultant phone call appointment, we were on the phone for a while. We had to go through everything from the start of my pregnancy with Cleo which was hard as I had to talk about Cleo’s birth and the emergency C-section. The appointment was very long winded and we had to go through her behaviour and habits. We had to talk about why we think she does it and how it affects her. It was just everything in one appointment. The consultant came to the conclusion that she probably has Autism but she is too young to diagnose that so she has a diagnosis of Global Developmental Delay and Speech Delay.

From the appointment, we then had a phone call appointment with her physio. Cleo walks with her feet inwards and on tip toes. She is clumsy and she doesn’t know how to stop. She is on the go all the time. So we thought that seeing a physio would be a good place to start too. Her physio spoke through the things that they offer and asks the same questions are the consultant.

If I have learnt anything, it is that I will be repeating Cleo’s ASD story alot to all different people and health professionals.

So now to lately. We have had a face to face appointment with the physio and it was an interesting appointment and not just because of Coronavirus. We had to look at Cleo’s joints and the way that she moves and after around 40 minutes, we had to learn the exercises that we now have to do with her to help with her sensory seeking.

Cleo is a sensory seeker. We have learnt that and we are trying everything to help her. We have brought more sensory toys and got her a weighted blanket from John Lewis. The blanket helped slightly with sleeping but not alot. We are still struggling with little sleep. Cleo only sleeps for a few hours a night and is on the go in the day so it is constant.

I have had a few days of tears lately. Not because Cleo has ASD and a new diagnosis of GDD and Speech Delay but because I am exhausted. I can’t catch up on sleep and with 2 other young children, it is such a hard suituation but I am really trying my best and that is all that I can do.