The results are in...

We had our follow up appointment yesterday with the Neuropsychologist who evaluated Ainsleigh, and unfortunately we had reason to be concerned. Ainsleigh has Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism. They consider it mild because there is no speech delay with Asperger's, no mental retardation, etc. However, individuals with Asperger's have many challenges and of course, social skills is the number one area.

Ainsleigh's verbal and nonverbal, perceptual organizational processes were at significant opposites. This means that Ainsleigh's nonverbal communication skills were off the charts high, but her verbal communication skills were way low. The doctor told us that this could be a possible indicator of a future learning disability. She, also, has very weak information processing speed. Her ability to use language is were it should be, her memory is excellent, but her receptive functional communication is about 3 years delayed. This means that when you talk with Ainsleigh, her perception of what you say is off. She may indicate to you that she understands, but she really doesn't and she doesn't even know that she doesn't understand.

The doctor recommended that we immediately get her working with a speech therapist, occupational therapist, and get her into social skills therapy. So off we go.... We withdrew her from her preschool (doctor recommended), there is relief in that since school has become the number one meltdown trigger for Ainsleigh, and we begin the process of evaluations and therapy appointments (ahhh.. familiar ground, haha). There is relief in knowing yet heartache too!! We honestly were praying the doctor would say the loathed yet hopeful word "typical", but of course deep down we knew. We are the family of A's: Allergies, Asthma, Autism (and a possible future ADHD). Yes, the doctor said there were indicators that Ainsleigh may have ADHD but she did not want to "label" (diagnose) her yet. She is hoping with therapy and time that she will be able to develop the attention, focus part of her brain since it is the last part of the brain to develop and Asperger's could also explain that, but she said it is a possibility.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying, we are SO grateful and thankful!!!! Love you all!! : )