Our lives were turned upside down February 28th, 1999 when he entered our world 9 weeks early. Weighing in at 3 lbs 1 ½ ounces he completely stole our hearts. We knew the challenges that he could face and thankfully he was released the day before Easter only 1 day short of 5 weeks after he was born. Before his release from the hospital we had to learn CPR and were told that he may have some issues with his behavior as he got older. He came home on a snowy, cold Saturday and we were so excited to be able to put him to sleep in his bassinet that night.
Like any new mom, I worried about every little thing and when he was old enough to talk started asking questions about his language development. Our doctor at the time said he would talk when he was ready and that “mom just talks for him.” I was also told some kids don’t talk and then all of a sudden they speak sentences. We knew Colton could talk, but if we asked what he needed when he was upset or someone else spoke to him, he remained silent and would sometimes get upset. When he was two, he could recite word for word “The Cat in the Hat” and even turn the pages when he was supposed to, yet if he wanted milk he would make an “uh” sound and quickly go into tears if I would ask what he wanted since I didn’t understand him. Colton also started to repeat everything we said and took things very literally. One day I told someone “It is like beating a dead horse,” and when James came home from work Colton told him how I had beaten a dead horse.
By the time he was 4 years old some of behavior became an issue and I asked our doctor at the time about his constant hand movements, his high energy level and about the tantrums he would have when something small would happen. As the years started to pass I would ask about odd behaviors like his obsession with cutting paper into strips or with a hole punch and keeping them. I asked about the holes that Colton would dig; he was so focused that they would be huge! When he was 5 he dug a hole that was 3’ deep and 18” across and it was perfect—it looked like a post hole digger had made it. Each time our doctor would dismiss it and write it off as “that is the way he is,” or “it’s boys being boys.”
Colton started kindergarten and started having problems with other kids the second day of school. He was coming home with fat lips and blood on his shirt and his teacher had no explanation for it. We noticed he was becoming depressed and decided to home school him half way through the school year. We continued to home school until we moved to an acreage in 2008, then he was placed in a parochial school where he was having issues, but not telling us until the end of the first school year he was there. He was being picked on and bullied, but to scared to say anything about it. We saw the depression coming back and spoke to his teacher about it. No one saw anything and in fact he was a model student! Two weeks into the 5th grade, his second school year at this school we removed him to home school again after the principal met me at the car with Colton. He had red marks on his arm and bruises on his legs.
I continued to ask his doctor about his behaviors and they continued to increase in intensity. We saw more bad behavior after our move and noticed when there was a change he would be worse and then even out. I asked about ADHD and was once again written off. We needed help and since our doctor refused to listen I asked James to talk to him. Finally, a referral to a psychologist was given and Colton could get the help he needed.
By the time Colton saw the psychologist in December of 2009, he was very depressed and was suffering from anxiety. We tried the techniques used to curb some of the behaviors and things seemed to improve, We were told what we were possibly facing and were told to ask the local school district to assess him for Asperger’s/Autism, so we requested the testing be done. The school’s results stated he had very little chance of Autism and he was diagnosed with ADHD and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). In April of 2010 the psychologist told us he was unable to help us because Colton’s behavior became worse and everything he knew to stop it did not work. We were given 2 names of other psychologists in the area and informed us that the first one would be the best, but she was booked solid and sent her patients to him,
James called her office and our prayers were answered! She was willing to take Colton as a patient, but we had to wait a couple months for our first appointment. We sat in her office and after discussing his history she felt it was Asperger’s but his testing at the school ruled it out and after a few more visits she felt that possibly wasn’t that but ADHD/ODD. We continued seeing her and after discussing how his doctor had handled things I asked her about finding a new doctor for Colton—his issues that I asked about were not normal and should have been addressed years ago. She said she had a doctor in mind and contacted him to see if he could take Colton as a patient and thankfully this doctor agreed.
Colton’s new pediatrician was not taking new patients, but after hearing about him, this person was so kind to take him and help us work through all of the issues we were facing. Part of the plan was to get Colton into see a pediatric neurologist and an appointment was made with the neurologist in October of 2010. Things were finally being done and we could see a change in his overall mood and behavior that were all for the positive. By April of 2011, Colton was allowed to stop seeing the psychologist every month and we had her number if anything came up. He was successfully transferred into the public school and seemed to be doing well.
To be continued...
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