The Tree Didn't Make It; Pediatrician Visit

Things went from bad to worse with our tree. By Monday night 3 more large branch sections had broken off the tree. We'll have to cut the whole thing down. One of the sections fell towards the side of the house and pushed the pine tree away from the house a bit. I haven't looked at it too closely yet, but it won't surprise me if there are problems with that too. It also tore a bit of the rain gutter away. We have 5 Bradford Pear trees and this is the only one that was impacted. I suppose that is because it was in such bad shape to begin with. An avenue near where I lived in Virginia Beach years ago was lined with these trees and every year there seemed to be at least one that broke apart. That is about the worst that we have seen from the storm. We did not get the massive quantities of rain and flooding that states north and east of us received. Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures I posted, they are much too dark.

Our visit to the pediatrician went well. I used to think that these visits would bring startling revelations as to the path we should take with Samuel. Now I know better. The doctor I saw let me do a lot of talking. She took copious notes and didn't say very much. That made me feel like talking more, which I did. Finally, she turned to Samuel and tried talking to him. His behavior was the most "autistic" that I have seen it in a while. He would not answer her, but he had a humorous look in his eye. Of course he tried to play on her computer and he lunged at the keyboard several times. He picked up a container of crayons and played with them on the floor during much of the visit. At one point he told me "Tell her about how I do not like 'Cyberchase' and I get upset." Maybe in the future I should not discuss him in the third person in front of him like that.

I greatly appreciated that she did not bring up the subject of medication (I did tell her while it was my turn to talk that I was not considering it at this time and that the only reason I will would be if he develops a lot of anxiety). She said it sounded like things are going pretty well for Samuel (which I think they are too). We just need to watch his scripting, his access to television, computers and other things electronic. She also recommended an increase in the amount of speech therapy he is getting (he only receives 40 min/week at school).

We'll return for another visit in 6 months and she see what she thinks of his IEP. I told her that one of my current concerns for him is his educational setting and his academics. She told me rather than worry so much about his academics, getting his communication more up to speed should be what we focus on. Makes sense to me. I should get more interactive activities going with him here at home. I spend so much time on homework and worry about his academic progress. Both will be much easier if he is able to communicate better.