Wow. Well, here I am writing this post (more than) 24 hours after the most wild last 2-days.
Not wild as in drank my face off wild...no - a different kind of wild.
We have had our suspicions about our son, V�in�, being Autistic for awhile now and it's absolutely amazing how quickly appointments were booked and we expressed our concern in December of last year.
In January, we had his first speech therapist appointment and she told us about using photos to communicate with him.
It wasn't working in the sense that he could show us what he wanted by pointing or picking up the photo and giving it to us. And in part, it was our fault for not trying hard enough and for having them all hole-punched and clipped onto a key ring. It was too distracting for him.
We have had a child psychologist appointment for him since then and as well, more photos printed and laminated by his speech therapist too.
Immediately, they recommended he be sent to the children's neurologist department to see what was going on inside his head.
We were advised our appointment would be booked for us and we would be sent a notification in the mail.
Well, within a few short weeks - we had an appointment booked for May 2-3rd.
We knew that they wanted to see him for more than a day and they would provide lunch but we had to bring breakfast and snacks if necessary. Also they said a nurse would call us before the appointments to confirm the appointment time was okay and to see if we needed anything special for V�in�.
Well,
that never happened. For those of you that live in JKL and don't know what building we went to - it's located behind the hospital and in a new building. (They'll provide you with a map!)
It's in a new building because the old one was filled with mold....seems to be a common trend among old buildings here...(i.e. The hubby's old office building...)
When we walked in - it wasn't too loud - there were two other children there...and it wasn't all white inside either! It didn't have the "squeaky clean Neuvola/hospital feeling" inside and V�in� did not scream when he got inside.
They had a huge play room with every toy you could imagine! A little kitchenette so you could bring your own food for yourselves...and make coffee...and many chairs to wait in - should your child be with a specialist or nurse for awhile on their own.
There was a white board nearby and V�in�'s name was there, along with the other kids and with his schedule for the day written down. The first day was a short one - from about 8:45am-11:30am.
He was assigned a wonderful and lovely nurse named Niina and she will be the same nurse he deals with every time he goes there for a check-up or for more therapy.
V�in� played worked with the speech therapist while we met with a team of specialists...
- A social worker
- Niina - his nurse whom stuck with him throughout the two days and will continue to do so in future! (How awesome is that?!)
- An occupational therapist
- A children's school specialist
They also provided us with a translator so that way everything could be understood perfectly between the two parties.
We were asked a wide variety of questions during this meeting and it was a little overwhelming at first because it was a panel of specialists and I worried they questioned things about how we felt - but they really didn't. They just wanted to help and know what was the best route to take to help rehabilitate our son and help him with his developmental issues and linguistic skills.
The first day ended with a small success, I am pleased to share with you all.
V�in� worked with the speech therapist alone for an hour and he was able to give her a photo of a container of bubbles and if he did that successfully - she blew bubbles for him.
Seems odd I suppose for those of you that don't know - but he's a big time visual learner and they believe he has a photographic memory to some degree because of how he refuses some foods repeatedly and other traits he has displayed for them.
So he was learning to "say" or to show what he wanted by giving her the photo and that was a huge step for us!! :)
Day 2 was much longer and more intensive because we went to the Occupational Therapist's office - which was located in another building.
It was very new, very white (i.e. walls, ceiling, floors) and scared the crap out of my 2-year old.
After that session and an attempt at feeding him the lunch they provided (meat patties, mashed potatoes, boiled carrots and bread with butter plus drinks) - we met with the doctor who made many suggestions and discussed that V�in� will require some more tests and of course, a lot of therapy as he grows.
After that, we waited a bit - and were sent in to meet with the team of specialists...
We discussed applying for
Disability Benefits for V�in� through Kela - can you believe they DO provide disability benefits for children under the age of 16 and once the child reaches their Sweet 16 - you just have to re-apply again (if you think your child qualifies) for regular Disability Benefits for someone over 16?!
I'm not sure what the system is in Canada...because most of the medical care is free - but things like therapies for speech and such - may not be.
There was also discussion of reviewing and borrowing a DVD about Autism in young children with the speech therapist, what kinds of activities would benefit V�in� and day care.
OH day-care.
In case you're wondering - day care has to be applied for and you may not get the location closest to you. They try to put your child(ren) where is more convenient for you - but you might not get your first choice.
Also, there is a
260� maximum fee per child (full-time, 5 days a week) - regardless of how much the total household income is! That's a pretty sweet deal considering in the US -
prices range from a minimum of 600$!As well, the amount you pay is based on how many days per month your child(ren) attends day care and if it's for a full day (they provide breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks) or for a half-day (breakfast and lunch included)...oh and based on your total household income.
Back to the original topic.
Yes there are day-cares specially targeted towards children of special needs of a wide variety, there's "regular day care" with some spots available for special needs children...and there is private day-care too (more expensive). With private day-care - there's more adults available per smaller group of kids.
So instead of 1 teacher for every 6-7 kids - there could be 1 teacher for 3-5.
And of course, some children require special aides - so that's more adults.
We haven't decided what kind of day-care would benefit V�in� the best because of the language issue...we're not sure if he understands English or Finnish better...but we'll figure it out.
We'll be back to visit them in 6 months with V�in� and in 1 week, we have to meet to fill out all of these forms...oh and we're going to submit a request that V�in�'s rehabilitation program be charged through to Kela.
Phew - I apologize this is so long and quite personal - but if you should happen to live in Finland and be in the same boat - this is what you could be going through.
