Diagnosis Negative

So.....  Levi's autism screening was negative!  He does not have autism!  We went in for the testing and Levi had his best day ever.  He did things for the test that he had never done before.  The great thing is that he is continuing to do them!  This, we know, is due to the prayers of our friends and family.  Of course, we are very relieved that we won't have to deal with autism.  Autism, in general, doesn't go away.  A person can learn to handle it and work past it, but the struggle is still there.  Levi is still quite delayed developmentally and we still have an uphill battle, but, without autism, there might be more of a chance that he can completely catch up and eventually have no problems.  We don't know how high that chance is, but I believe it's higher than it would be with an autism diagnosis.  Of course, if he is able to catch up, it will take time, probably years, but he won't have many of the social struggles that come with autism.  And, that, right now, is good enough for me!

The other good news is that Minnesota is one of the top states for the services it offers to children with disabilities.  We already have a teacher come in twice a week and now a speech therapist is going to join her once a week.  But, we're going to be able to get many more therapies and services to help him out.  The earlier he gets these interventions the better.  It won't be easy, and we're not guaranteed that he'll ever fully catch up, but he has a much greater chance with these services.  So, for his sake, we're doing it all.  Whatever we qualify for, we're doing it.  Thank you Minnesota!  Most of all, thank you Jesus!  My baby boy is going to be who You want him to be no matter what happens.