Amid all the ADN Conference flurry, I met with the neuropsych who recently evaluated LuLu (school system footed the bill) in conjunction with our impending due process hearing.

I was shocked (and thrilled) to hear that he firmly believes that LuLu's issues are neurologically based (no surprise because they are). He wants to focus squarely on the Tourettes Plus diagnosis (which is a combination of Tourettes/OCD/ADHD -- a common combo). While I believe LuLu's issues are greater than that, I was willing to hear him out. He did add that she has significant communication issues and significant processing issues. He also predicted that she will do poorly on her CAPD evaluation tomorrow (which I think is a sure bet as well).

He did hand me information from an extremely helpful website on Tourettes: www.tourettesyndrome.net. The author of this website, Dr. Leslie Packer, is a psychologist in New York State who is a parent and wife of three guys who have what she refers to as "Tourettes Plus". Her definition includes more than this, but does focus on research that points out that a high percentage of children with Tourettes Syndrome also have Obessive-Compulsive Disorder and ADHD.

The neuropsychologist's point of bringing all this to my attention (and I already had heard the term TS+ and always group those diagnoses together for folks when I talk about LuLu), is that he believes the school's misunderstanding of LuLu's behaviors is a misunderstanding of this particular order. And he wants to simplify things. He didn't dismiss that she would have a pervasive developmental delay or Aspergers or that she does have processing problems and has been impacted by trauma (hence PTSD/RAD). But he said that in order to focus on one thing that would make a huge difference for LuLu in her educational environment that he believes we should focus on the TS+ and discuss with the school the impact this neurological impairment has on her behavior.

He went on to tell me things I know deeply in my soul...that LuLu cannot control her behavior no matter how hard she tries! That the behaviors build up (like the tics) until she can no longer suppress them. That the only way to lessen the build up is to alter the environment to reduce the level of anxiety she feels and to be accepting of the tics since they can't be suppressed. (And he, of course, lumped all the inappropriate talk and cussing into that tic category).

My heart was soaring...here was a professional (paid by the school no less) saying the same things I've been saying. But there is an important catch. When I got home and read his draft report the information he so eagerly shared with me verbally was not in writing. UGH! I knew it was too good to be true. Ok, so now I've got a professional who "gets it" who is not going to clearly tell the school what he has clearly told me. Where does that leave me in my current situation?

Well...next week's trial will tell...