Simon's Syndrome

At least that is what I've decided to call it. At this point, I think Simon has most definitely earned the distinction.

To back-track a little (it has been another insane week, in a lot of ways), we did meet with the Neuropschiatrist last week. And they did diagnose Simon with PDD-NOS, or Atypical Autism, because the social and communication challenges that Simon displays do fit rather well under that umbrella.

However, unlike most cases of Autism, where the cause is yet unknown, Simon's language comprehension and social communication disabilities are directly the result of his original brain damage and the subsequent developmental irregularities within his brain. To make a very long story very short (atypical of me, I know), Simon has a lot more wrong with his brain than we have previously been told.

The bright side, for a kid with his level of brain damage, Simon is doing great. Another bright side is that there are a lot of resources for Autism that simply don't exist for other categories of disability (like CP). The less bright part -- he has a scary lot of brain damage, and there is no prognosis because our amazing modern medicine simply doesn't understand the brain that well yet. And, he has Autism, which is still tough to say out loud. Or to type quietly.

Despite the fact that Simon is "atypical," there literally are no other options for diagnosis. Well, no other options until now and my invention of Simon Syndrome -- which is short for Hydrocephalus-with-VP-Shunt-Pediatric-Stroke-Left-sided-Spastic-Hemiplegic-Cerebral-Palsy-Epilepsy-Sensory-Processing-Disorder-Pervasive-Development-Disorder-Not-Otherwise-Specified-and-some-Food-and-Environmental-Allergies-and-Asthma.

Yeah, I like Simon's Syndrome better. He owns it, it doesn't own him. Practically unbearable cuteness is one of the most pervasive side effects. Just take a look for yourself.