such a gift that we were no longer in this gray area. We were in a black-and-white area, and now we were able to get the services that she so desperately needed. I was asking God for a guide, a book, some sort of direction to help point me in the right way, and I left Ochsner that day with a literal book in my hand, that gave me a list of every resource I could imagine,” Ryn shares. The journey to getting a diagnosis was full of ups and downs, but for Ryn, the best part of all has been the little things Emery does. She says, “Emery surprises me every day. She’s such a gift. There was a time when I was begging for her to say ‘mama,’ ‘duck,’ ‘book,’ or ‘dada,’ anything. She didn’t talk until two and a half, and it’s just funny now to hear what comes out of her mouth.” For parents who find themselves on a similar journey, Ryn emphasizes, “You’re absolutely not alone. Ask for guidance. If you’re seeking help, always get a second opinion. You are your child’s voice. You have to constantly advocate and fight. Keep your head up and don’t lose sight of the end goal because it’s beautiful, and it’s bright on the other side; you just have to keep pushing it to get it.”
which is a very routine-driven, curriculum-based preschool, they called me and said Emery was not a good mold for the three-year-old class. Panic settled in for me that they were going to ask her to leave, but they told me she could stay, and that they would put her in a different class that would be more catered, where the teacher would help her more. For that, I’m forever grateful because they have been wonderful to her. They let her change classes to the older two-year- olds, and they began to help her every day with what she needed,” says Ryn. Coupled with preschool, Emery began therapy at Abilities Pediatric Therapy Services, where the occupational therapist confirmed that Emery was experiencing Sensory Processing Disorder. At the time, Emery was still on the waiting list in order to get an official autism diagnosis evaluation, and at one point, she was on three different waiting lists to find answers. “I was calling like a frantic mother. I was calling in New Orleans, I was calling in Lafayette, I was calling anybody and everybody, trying to get Emery in as quickly as possible. Because initially, when we got the diagnosis
of developmental delay and sensory processing disorder, I was like, this makes total sense. She’s not autistic, she has sensory issues, so we took that as a blessing. As we got deeper, we thought, okay, we need services,” says Ryn. The family learned that Emery is neurodivergent. However, without the official autism diagnosis, insurance would not cover anything and Emery didn’t qualify for ABA therapy. “We were truly fitting in between a rock and a hard place. She wasn’t fitting the mold of typical or atypical. There wasn’t an entity that could help a child in the gray area,” she says. A SILVER LINING A year and a half later, Emery was finally off the waiting list. The family visited Ochsner’s Michael R. Boh Center for Child Development in Baton Rouge, where Emery met with four different medical professionals. Unanimously, they diagnosed Emery with Level Two Autism. “I remember as soon as she said, ‘This does correlate with autism,’ I stopped her and I said, ‘Does or doesn’t?’ I was prepared for it, but until you get confirmation, it hits you weird. I started crying because I felt like they’d given her
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