Neurology 101

Conner had his visit with the pediatric neurologist today. I wasn't too impressed with the visit. The Dr. read through Conner's OT evaluation that I had sent that described his sensory issues and he asked me about Conner's sleep patterns. He didn't seem all too concerned about the sleep issues we have been dealing with. He did say that he doesn't typically diagnose a child on the first visit. He likes to have more data. So he ordered an MRI non-contrast, a blood work-up, and the ADOS assessment(this is a screening for autism). Yep, I said the "A" word. Conner does not exhibit a lot of the typical behaviors/characteristics that you might think of when you envision a child with autism. However, there are some things that do stand out. We were asked to return in 6 months to follow-up after all of the testing is complete. My first thought was WTF(I apologize for the profanity but I am just being honest), six months are you serious? I figure I will get around that after all of the testing is complete.

All I can say from my experience with pediatric specialists is that if I had to start all over again and pick a career there are several pediatric doctor fields that I would consider. Opthamology, neurology and orthopedist are among the choices. There is only one pediatric opthamologist and one orthopedist office in the county and there are only three pediatric neurology offices(one which is only open part-time). It's a joke, not to mention that they may not take your insurance so you could be completely screwed and have no options in the county.