More “Doctors” and Such

On Monday, we took Zach to have a speech evaluation at NYU’s Rusk Institute, which is part of the same medical center at which the genetic screening took place two weeks ago. We entered on 34th Street instead of 1st Avenue this time, so I’m not sure that Zach made the connection, he certainly did not seem to be expecting any unpleasantness and was in a fine mood. After filling out all the insurance paperwork stuff, we rode the elevator to the fifth floor where we met Laura Brooks who was the Speech-Language Pathologist that would be doing the evaluation.

Zach charmed her immediately by giving her a kiss as a greeting. There were lots of cool toys and some familiar ones in Laura’s office, so Zach went right in to explore and didn’t mind at all that Mommy and Daddy stayed outside. While the evaluation was going on, we filled out a multi-page questionnaire and medical history on Zach, that will become part of the report that will be written on the evaluation. The evaluation lasted some time – I did not keep track of the time, but I would guess that it lasted between a half hour and forty-five minutes – it was definitely long enough for us to finish all the writing and hang out eavesdropping outside the closed door.

The little guy did great, and we all sat down to discuss the findings, while Zach had his snack. One of the reasons for this evaluation was to determine whether or not Zach has speech apraxia, which is a neurological disorder characterized by loss of the ability to execute or carry out learned (familiar) movements, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform the movements. It is a disorder of motor planning, which may be acquired or developmental, but may not be caused by incoordination, sensory loss or failure to comprehend simple commands.

Laura said that Zach had some definite characteristics of speech apraxia, but some characteristics that were definitely not apraxic, thus there is no simple diagnosis. This is inline with the evolving/clarifying picture of Zach. He does not fit into any easy category – he’s just Zach. The therapy recommendations that will be in the report, however, will just be more of what he is already getting. The best news to me was Laura’s comment that “he’s so teachable,” which she said in reference to his ability to sit down and focus for a therapy session. The other piece of good news was the recommendation of having a neuro-psychological evaluation and the referral to a preeminent expert in the field. Stay tuned for developments on this front.

In Miranda news (thankfully there is very little news here) our little lady got a Mumps shot yesterday, which I will hear all about later this afternoon when we take Zach to his audiological evaluation (hearing test). After today, we should be done with doctors and such for the year – more coming in 2007. Next up: Zach’s first dentist appointment (he won’t like that one little bit).