We were supposed to have an autism screening appointment yesterday for our youngest daughter, and it got cancelled - with only two hours' notice. Grrrr.... it's ok if the doctor cancels on such late notice, but not ok when a patient calls like that. It really aggravated me. We've been waiting for this appointment for FIVE MONTHS...and I felt like I just got totally blown off. The receptionist said she would be calling back "at a later date to reschedule". I know how this clinic operates...If I haven't heard from them by Monday, I'll be calling them!!!
I was really looking forward to getting this screening done - hopefully it will provide some much-needed answers about Rae's behaviors. She can be so frustrating sometimes...it seems like there might be OCD issues to worry about, as well as sensory integration issues, in addition to the autism-like behaviors that we see. If she is autistic, she'd be classified as high-functioning. I wonder if it isn't Asperger's Syndrome. Sometimes it is so hard to get a straight answer from these docs...
This is another reason I wish we had more money...wish we could afford to take both Rae and Jonathan to whatever specialist we needed to in order to find out exactly what their troubles are, and how to fix them. For Jonathan, it's a bit too late to "fix" anything...all we can do is try to teach him coping skills, and pray that he is able to maintain his own apartment someday.
Last night we went to our monthly Families 4 Families support group meeting. This is a small, close-knit group of people who have children with varying degrees of emotional and behavorial health issues. It was interesting to see Jonathan and another young lady actively engaged in conversation - for the very first time. Jonathan usually sits out in our van because he feels like he's the only one his age who comes, but this other young girl is a teenager as well. She's two or three years younger than him, but until recently she seemed much younger than that. ut last night, there was something different. The two of them sat on the couch, talking and laughing with each other...which made a definite impression on all the adults who were there. We all were amazed to see both kids just sitting there, totally at ease with each other.
This is what this support group is all about. The parents helping each other, but also the kids helping each other to grow and be more comfortable in a social situation. It was neat to see how Jonathan is finally growing into a young man who is comfortable with talking to peers and adults alike - he also had a short conversation with one of the other moms, and she said he was very relaxed and chatted amiaby with her. She didn't say what they talked about, but she said he used an appropriate tone of voice - not yelling or talking loudly like he used to do:-) He made eye contact and was generally very pleasant to talk with.
We had good food and good friends to be with...it was an enjoyable evening...and the remainder was spent visiting my parents, who only live two blocks away from where we meet each month.
So we stopped by for a little bit and had coffee and cake with them. (I had decorated a large sheet cake for our meeting, but very few people ate it, so I had lots to share with Mom and Dad!)
We also fine-tuned the girls' Pinewood Derby cars for the race tomorrow morning.
Last Saturday, the girls raced their cars in the Sectional Royal Rangers Pinewood Derby, and Joyce's car won 4th place! And she didn't even get to be there to see it win...so we're going to the Divisional race tomorrow, and see what happens with their cars this time.
Well, we shall see what happens tomorrow...if they don't win anything it's perfectly fine by me, though it would be nice to see them come away with a trophy or two. Especially for Rae...she was so disappointed at our church Pinewood Derby, and then again last Saturday at the sectional race...but I'm not sure her truck will be fast enough. It'll be fun, though, whatever happens. She enjoyed the day last time even though she didn't place.
No comments:
Post a Comment