Written by Lily's Mother
Lily came to us from foster care when she was 7 months old. She couldn't sit, crawl or babble. She didn't cry, she would lay on the floor looking at toys and being content with that. Her birth parents both have special needs, so we didn't know if her delays were from neglect or inherited.
She was in speech, occupational, and physical therapy. She started sitting and crawling and babbling and interacting. We believed it was from the neglect that she was delayed, so we continued therapy until she was three. We had her tested at school and she didn't qualify, so we put her in regular preschool.
She was very quiet and shy, so she did okay at school but didn't talk much. At home Lily would talk and interact with us so I thought she wasn't doing as well at school because of her separation anxiety and shyness. The next year she went to the preschool at our public school so she could receive services, once again she didn't qualify, but she did attend school there. When kindergarten started I knew the school wasn't right for her. I put her in the private school where she had gone to preschool, but after the first week the teacher said Lily couldn’t keep up and had to move back to Pre-K We did that for two weeks and realized we had to get into a new school district that could meet her needs.
In one months’ time we found a house that was in the right district and moved after living in our home, which we had completely remodeled, for 17 years. During all of this the birthparents had another child that we adopted named Sam. Sam also has delays. Through all of this we have tried to get answers about the overall diagnosis but were told repeatedly that we had to wait because she wasn't old enough for testing. Lily has an IEP and gets special education services, but she struggles with reading, writing and following directions. My pediatrician sent referrals to multiple psychologists for evaluations, but we were denied because they wouldn't take our insurance, even though we had two kinds.
Lily's doctor told me the best thing would be to go to WAAA for help. That's when I first talked to Jess, who is amazing. I finally felt like I was being heard. Within the next few days she had found a psychologist who would see Lily. Before this we were going to have to go to Seattle. Jess checked in every couple of days to make sure the referral went through. It is wonderful to have this kind of support! I have felt like no one was listening and I was being dismissed as an overly anxious parent. Jess shared with me her story of her daughter who has Autism Spectrum Disorder and I felt so relieved to talk to someone who has gone through the same thing. We will get Lily’s and Sam's diagnoses in the next month. We need to get them into Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy and will be getting help from WAAA with insurance issues. We are also having issues with Lily's teacher following the IEP at school, so Jess immediately put me in contact with the person who handles school issues and she has been incredibly helpful. I cannot express how much WAAA has helped our family; a huge weight has been lifted off of us. Now we can move forward and get the best help for our kiddos!