Today I took William to see the psychologists at the Regional Center of OC in Tustin after his class at Mitchell. The appointment was at 2 P.M, and it took about 1 hour. Dr. Kyle D. Pontius ( PhD, RCOC Psychologist) came with a lady named Iris Richard, (MD, RCOC Physician) , they brought us to a big room with a few toys. William at first didn’t want to stay; he pulled my hand and dragged me to the door. I led him back to the toys; then he started to play with the ball, climbed up the slide and touched other toys. At first they just observed him and then asked me lots of questions about his behavior.
Does he respond to his name? When did he started to crawl, walk and say first word? What words does he know? Does he know if I’m upset? Does he follow simple commands? Does he like to look at the ceiling fan? does he ever get into a fight with other children? how does he eat? Does he feel hurt when he falls? Does he like everything to be neat? The result of the hearing test? how does he like when getting a hair cut? etc.
No, William is now 3 years old but he doesn’t respond to his name at all. Doesn’t matter who calls his name, he doesn’t show any sign of hearing it: doesn’t turn his head or look up or look at the direction where the voice is coming from; but he does respond to music and sounds from the TV or videos. He’d spin in a circle so many times when he hears the music that he likes. He can only say Papa or Mama or count to 3. That’s about it. Lately he tries to repeat some of the sounds he hears from those Mickey mouse videos from YouTube. He says it in a very soft voice. He likes to close things; if he sees the oven knob covers are open, he’d close them. If I close the lid of the Aquaphor bottle not too tight, he’d try to close it right. He doesn’t seem to know how to use a toy; he has a Ride-on bike but he always turns it over and spins the wheels only. Some times he does respond to some simple commands like Stop or Eat or Drink. He does understand some of the basic activities like Shower, Brush Teeth. When I say these words he’d run to the bathroom. When he wants something but we’d not give it to him, he’d cry, kick his legs and throw himself out on the floor; if we don’t catch him, he’d hit his head on the floor or the wall. Haircut? last time we tried was 2 months ago. We put him on the high chair; he cried, kicked his legs and shook his head from left to right until we gave up and let him go. The result is terrible!
Every time we go out to the mall or park, he’d just run around so fast that we have a hard time to keep up with him. Times like this saying “Stop” doesn’t mean anything to him. He’d run to and touch the things that he sees & likes. He especially like the escalator and elevator. He’d ride them so many time without being bored. We’d be tired of the repetitiveness but he would not.
Toward the end of the session, Dr. Kyle said “He has Autism, classic case of Autism”. As soon as I heard that I burst into tears. He asked “Didn’t that you already know?”. “I was hoping to hear differently!” – I responded in tears.
I guess it’s time to stop being in denial!