I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the issues we have been dealing with Josiah. Basically we are on a path to help Josiah succeed not only in school but in life. However this is difficult given the information we have recently been given that he may be suffering an Autism Spectrum Disorder. This does not mean he has Autism neccesarily. It just means he has some learning diffulties in that spectrum of disorders. The sooner we can get him help the better student he can be, and better he can learn in school, and most importantly, the sooner we can help him deal with life in general and all the wonderful twists and turns that "normal" people take in stride day after day that he simply cannot. Below is the information I have received over the last few weeks.
After meeting with an occupational therapist for Josiah, I was compelled to find a different path for help. Not because I did not find her helpful, in fact she only backed up how I felt and how our family doctor is feeling, in the fact that Josiah has an Autism Spectrum disorder, but because our insurance sucks! My one hour meeting with her this morning is going to cost us $200! Our insurance will not be paying for it at all.
After many more phone calls and finally finding the right referral line, Josiah is being accepted into the Mult. Co. Early Intervention program. His first appt is with 3 people to give them an idea of his main problems, but it isn't until Jan 5th! The good thing here is that it is federally funded (free to us). Then next spring we will transferred to the Kindergarten readiness part of the program through Portland Public Schools, which I am told has lots of help not only for Josiah to make a transition into public school but our local Elementary school is the best in Portland for providing special classes for Autistic children. Oh did I mention in my huge last sentence that there is also a Parent support system as well, also free.
Josiah has taken one occupational therapy class so far and it has helped me tremendously to understand his sensory issues. It was explained to me like this "Josiah needs much more stimulation than a normal person would desire in order for his brain to compute the same situation that we see it as." For example, he bounces on an exercise ball and tries to draw a circle but cannot, then goes and jumps for 5 minutes (vigorously) on a mini trampoline comes back to same spot with same instruments and is able to draw not only a circle but a square and a triangle with no fit! He also does not like the same kinds of touch that I take for granted. Like a simple hug to say Hi or bye, could be complete toture for him, or little bit of tickling in playtime on the floor with daddy could turn into a huge cry-fest. Swinging on the swing out front is not just a simple back and forth, it has to be full force, fly through the air and you might fall off the seat, is the only way to go for him! You see there are extreme's for Josiah that may seem perfectly normal to some and not to others but this is life for him. And we are jsut trying to learn how to make his life a little easier for him to handle so we don't have the extreme fits that he sometimes has because of extreme over-stimulation. There is this fine line of just the right amount of stimulation for Josiah(which is way too much for me) and then you cross that line and you're in a full blown fit that is nearly uncontrollable.
I am always so happy when I can finally get the correct information that I need. At least right now I am feeling that we will be getting Josiah the best help we can with the means we can afford. And right now, that is what I needed. I just needed someone to listen and agree to see him and provide our family with the tools we need to help him succeed not only in school but in life.
Praise God for allowing me to find the right people!
He's a sad little snowman, but we made one none-the-less. 
Yes, I did get hit with that snowball! :-) It was all in the name of "fun!"
