Preparing for developmental pedi eval

macchiatto

We finally got a call today with an appt time for Alex to have an eval with the developmental pedi. They said the eval will take most of the day and be with the devel. pedi and a school psychologist. For those of you who have been through evals by a developmental pediatrician, any advice on what to expect or how to prepare for the appointment? It takes so long to get in (6-18 months), I feel like I want to make the most of the appt and not be caught off-guard or come up with tons of questions later I wish I'd asked at the time. Is there anything you wish you'd known or been prepared for?

Summary of the back story: Alex is going at our OT and EI's suggestion and our pedi's referral because of global developmental delays (he had PT, OT and feeding therapy), hypotonia, seizure history (the one tonic-clonic seizure he had at 22m--MRI was mildly abnormal and inconclusive), random zoning-out episodes, a tendency to be very rigid/adamant, anxiety, moderate sensory issues, some minor odd behaviors and speech patterns, and some mild concerns about social skills/behavior.

Also, he's made a lot of progress in therapy since we sent in his intake packet last spring--he's graduated from feeding therapy and recently moved back to OT just on a consult basis instead of weekly; still about 15m delayed in gross motor skills, and the other issues are still present but have gotten somewhat milder since then. So part of me wonders if it's overkill at this stage to see a developmental pedi. If you have thoughts on that, too, I'm all ears. I feel like since we finally have the appt I don't want to miss something.

houndbaby

Our eval was only about 1 hr, I really didn't have many questions because I pretty much knew what the dx was going to be going in and I had done so so much research in the months leading up to the appt. I would ask them if they will tape record the dx and suggestions for you and Q&A with the Dr., if they don't I would ask if you can take your own tape recorder and tape it. (Our Dr. was strict about not wanting any digital recordings, only cassette tape, he didn't want anyone putting what he said on the internet, like no one could convert a cassette tape to digital...) I actually have gone back and listened to the tape and was able to share the tape with his therapists so they could hear first hand not my rehashed version of the dx and suggestions.

d.f

We had our initial Dev Pedi appointment back in April.  He too made enormous progress between sending the forms in (Dec) to the appointment.  Basically the Dr and her intern asked us a million more questions-some were the same or similar to the forms so we were able to outline his growth.  She then played with DS for over an hour.  She had him attempt to draw a circle,cross and line.  She had him imitate stacking blocks. They counted objects, named shapes and colors, sorted.  Threw and kicked a ball.  Ran down the hall. climbed stairs.  There's more I'm sure. I'm pretty sure she was following specific evaluations but I don't remember the names and it was a natural flow.  At the end of the appointment she referred us for an OT  and SLP Evals and to a child psych.  The child psych is the one who gave DS his Dx in  July. 

Louise06

I had to fill out a ton of assessment forms which was not fun with a very active 4 year old.

finsup

Our experience was similar to d.f - it took about 2 hours for the initial visit.  She went over all the intake paperwork, did a basic health exam, and did all the standard exercises - draw, blocks, sort etc with him.

Then she had us come back 3 weeks later for the ADOS.

macchiatto

Thank you for the responses, everyone! That really helps.
And auntie, thanks for that perspective; that makes a lot of sense. His EI and SLP (feeding therapist) have floated the spectrum idea a few times, though they both think if he is on the spectrum it's at the very mild end ... he does also seem to have some tendencies that could turn out to be OCD or ADHD/inattentive type (I just learned today about the restricted inattentive type that will probably be in the DSM V and that sounds like him to me).

Houndbaby, I wouldn't have thought to ask to record it. Great idea!