Deciphering Davin

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary in which we learned of Rowan’s hearing loss. It was a like a bolt out of the blue and we were shocked and unprepared for the news. A rapid absorption of information occurred as we tried to sift through the strange new vocabulary for “cochlear implants” and “profound hearing loss.” However, we had a pretty clear diagnosis and an even clearer path to take: bilateral cochlear implants followed by intense audio-verbal therapy. Understanding Davin and his needs has been like a mountain path that meanders casually through a dense forest and then sharply accelerates to a narrow vista, only to be obscured again by more trees. There were times that I wondered about Davin, but he always met his developmental benchmarks and the pediatrician seemed to think he was fine, making me feel like an over-obsessed parent. Then issues started to arise; Davin had a hard time integrating into preschool at age three. We had him tested by the school district who determined that he had a receptive language delay, which qualified him to attend a pre-kindergarten school. We knew that Davin had some delays and needs, we just didn’t know what they were exactly. By chance I happened to have a different pediatrician for Davin’s four year old check-up who referred us to a neurologist, who then referred us to a pediatric neuropsychologist. After a series of appointments and tests, she concluded what we had started to suspect, that Davin has Asperger’s.

If you are new to this term, Asperger’s syndrome (can also be referred to as a disorder), is the highest functioning diagnosis on the autism spectrum. Individuals with Asperger’s show some of the tendencies of autism (poor social skills, tendency to fixate on a particular topic, problems communicating, sensory issues) without the mental retardation element. It is a challenging condition where individuals have a difficult time interacting with others and understanding the rules of society, but with good instruction these barriers can be overcome or at least managed (there is no “cure” for Asperger’s or autism). However, many have learned to do so and likely go through their lives without an official diagnosis or treatment; in fact, for some it seems to unlock the more intense and creative elements of their brains that focus single-mindedly on a particular problem (try Google-ing “famous people aspergers” and check out the list that comes up).

Davin has his peculiarities; he likes wearing sport related clothes and usually has to have a set of sport clothes underneath his school clothes or church clothes in order to convince him to wear something else. He likes cars, buses, and stop lights and tends to focus his time on these activities, though he also loves to play outside, play sports, and ride his bike. Occasionally he can be a little clumsy but in general he seems to have good gross motor skills; he likes to run, shoot baskets, and play baseball. He can get a little overwhelmed by a large group of people but he also enjoys having friends over to play and he has an amazing memory for names and events. Noises, particularly loud, unexpected noises tend to bother him and he has become a little concerned about fire alarms lately. He is a warm and empathetic little boy who worries about others when they are sad and loves to be hugged and cuddled, a trait not often found with Asperger’s.

We are continuing in our journey to learn more about Davin and make decisions that will hopefully give him the best opportunities to succeed. There will be challenges ahead but our goal is to help Davin to find what will make him happy in life and to facilitate that adventure as much as possible, no matter where it may take us.