I regrouped and started making calls to have Matthew evaluated. We got on waiting lists as I worked my way down the list that was given to me by the Speech Therapist at Children's Hospital . One of the things she told me was important to do was get him into a Special Needs Preschool. Hilliard Public Schools had one so I contacted them and set up a time to have him evaluated to see if he qualified for the school. I filled out a huge stack of forms to apply for the school. I didn't realize at the time that anytime we started programs or applied for therapy there were lots of forms to fill out. Sometimes repeating our history would get tiring!
The time arrived for the evaluation at the Preschool. Matthew and I were in the school office and the speech therapist came to get us. We followed her to the classroom. The room had the School Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist and a Classroom teacher waiting for us. It was intimidating. They asked me some questions about Matthew. They asked me to step out and I think they could tell by the look on my face that I was hesitant to leave the room. They told me he would be fine. The minute I stepped out the door the screaming and crying started. I slowly went down the hall, hesitating as the screaming got louder and harder. I made it down the hall and sat down in the school office. I sat there and listened to the screaming continue. Finally after twenty minutes, I asked the Principal who was sitting at the front desk at the time if I could check on my son. She told me she would call back there and see how it was going. So while I was sitting there, she talked to one of the teachers and told them that mom was concerned about her son. I was ready to go back and get him! The Principal hung up the phone and told me everything was fine and they would be done soon. He cried and screamed the entire time he was with the teachers.
After about 15 more minutes or so the Speech Therapist brought him to me. He stopped crying the minute he saw me and jumped into my arms. The Speech Therapist said he would not do much and I was not surprised because of the screaming. Also based on what happened the last time we had him evaluated. She said at one point Matthew got so mad at her that he kicked her in the leg. During the evaluation, besides screaming he was standing at the door wanting me. They wanted him to engage with them but he was not interested.
The good news is the Speech Therapist told me he would qualify for the Preschool. The Speech Therapist offered to work with him two to three times a week to help him start speaking more. I agreed to it and she started working with Matthew weekly. As the weeks went by he made progress and gained more words. This would be an ongoing part of our journey.
At this point we still did not have an official diagnosis for him. The Special Needs Preschool said he had a Developmental Delay. In the meantime we continued on waiting lists for an evaluation. My intuition was telling me that there was more going on with Matthew than a Developmental Delay.
