Continued...

When Tyler went to preschool, Jesse soaked up every ounce of my affection, attention and was thrilled to see Tyler when we picked him up. David and I discussed homeschooling Jesse because he had made a huge improvement. Last fall, we officially began homeschooling. Jesse soared academically. I realized that most of the therapy methods of teaching that I had learned with Tyler also worked great with Jesse. We used visual supports, rewards systems and lots of small short teaching sessions broken up with chores and motor activities. I knew that he still had his "quirks", a short attention span and listening comprehension problems, but I had patience and saw him soar when taught HIS way. Because we decided to homeschool, we started to make extra efforts to get Jesse into activities with other children and "socialize". This is when we noticed some social delays that concerned us both. I was also reading a book at the time that mentioned how some homeschooled boys grew up to resemble mama's boys and not the men we are trying to raise. Jesse bossed children around, sorted out disagreements out between younger children and acted as almost everyone's superior. My thought was, "OH no! He is turning into a MOTHER!" The author of that book was a well-known reformed author who was not against homeschooling by any means, but was noting a trend he saw with homeschooled boys. This led to an overnight (not quite thought out) decision to put Jesse into school. I communicated with his teacher often and informed her the best I could about Jesse. She immediately saw Jesse's differences when put in a class with peers the same age. The most notable difference was a language delay. He seemed confused often and needed constant assistance with his school work. We started the process of tests for Jesse. I really thought Jesse may have Aspergers syndrome. Aspergers is a high functioning form of autism. It is often associated with very intelligent individuals who struggle and fumble through the social world. This week, Jesse was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. This is also an autism spectrum disorder, but the children are not meeting ALL of the qualifications for an autism diagnosis. At the age of five, it is very hard to diagnose Aspergers because five year olds do not have many social expectations. His doctor did suggest that we reassess him age 8. That age will give a clearer picture on Jesse's level of fuctioning socially. Though Tyler's diagnosis shattered me, I have found comfort in this diagnosis. Jesse is who he is. This just EXPLAINS a lot. It also affects my atttitude toward his quirks. He isn't just a stubborn pain in the butt during Christmas gatherings, he is a kid with sensory issues and his language delays make it hard for him to voice his feelings. I love my son with all my heart and will do everything in my power to help him meet his potential--and he has a TON!