Forget and let forget

The morning started of great. Connor was awake and singing in his bed. I got up opened his door and told him "G'morning" otherwise he would stay in there all day. I go to the kitchen and coffee is already waiting on me. How heavenly! I peek out the side door and see Hubby is outside making his morning calls telling everyone where to be and when. Probably outside so to avoid having each person sernaded. I call down stairs to the teens and tell them it time to get up. The eldest has to get ready, today is freshman registration. Hubby is done with his calls and comes back in.

"She's getting ready now." I can tell as soon as the sentence comes out of my mouth that he has forgotten.
"!@#$, I can't believe I !@#$*% forgot! I have a contractor meeting me in Indiana in 30 mins!"
"Does she have to be there? Can you drop off the papers and pay the fees?"
"Yeah I'll do that. Should be ok right?"
"We can only hope at this point. You did remember his speech evaluation is at 2?"
"Yeah I will stay here and do paper work till you get back"

The problem was solved for a total of 10 minutes.

"I'll have to come get you two and drop you off to do this. Have the younger teen keep an eye on Connor. They have this long line and a 12 step process and I will be here all day. Besides they have to make her an ID."

He drops us off at the highschool where we grab her schedule and wait in an ID line for an hour. Where it becomes pretty obvious she forgot to brush her teeth. Then we pick up books, locker combinations, handbooks, and pay fees for Orchestra, honors classes, art/photo club, and various other stuff, which turns in to a small fortune. We then find the classrooms for each period; 2nd floor, 1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor, 1st, 3rd....
"Mom you think they did this on purpose?" She laughs.

Hubby picks us up and I am annoyed yet again. The viola he was to drop off to be strung and tuned, that cost three times the amount I just gave the school, that was handmade with inlay, that is sensitive to humidity and cold alike, is in the bed of his truck!

1:30 rolls around and Connor and I are on our way to his speech evaluation. He is always happy to be riding in the truck. We get there and sign in and he is very excited, it is the same building OT is in and he knows the next hour will be all about him. The receptionist calls me over while I wrestle with a toddler that is dying to run the halls at top speed.

"He has a speech evaluation?"
"Yes"
"Uhm... it isn't today."
"Really, you're sure?"
"Yes, Ma'am. It is on the 7th. I can understand how 7th and 2nd sound alike though."
"Thank you."

I then have two challenges in front of me. One this little boy is very upset that there will be no treatment or new toys played with today and he is now clawing, pinching, and kicking. Second is the dear man I have been a snippy b*tch to today over things he has forgot or overlooked.

I finally get Connor in his carseat and bribed to remain in the belt correctly, using what little ABA I have in my possesion. We head off to the grocery to pick up a few odds and ends and to take him somewhere instead of straight home which would cause more meltdowns. As we pull into the parking lot he starts chanting "Cookie, cookie, cookie"

We gather what we need and little guy is being a model citizen and I see it the

most perfect thing that says "I am so sorry. I have been an ass. Please forgive

me and please don't make any snide remarks."

Oh and we got the cookie too.

To Be or Not to Be, and Other Questions

Little man has been without "Official" treatment from a therapist most of the summer months. Having turned 3 in May, he was ceremoniously release from the early development program of the state and we had been on waiting list for a couple of different centers or therapist that our insurance will pay for while I do floor time, speech, and occupational therapies on my own.

Hubby has been trying to keep up to date on everything going on but has a more than full time job. It is there for that sometimes he can blow things out of the water without even a second thought. He is has had to take off early so that we can take Connor to evaluations for OT (we finally came to the top of the list) since I wrecked my van in Jun, and everyone in the known world is on turtle mode so I have yet to get another form of transportation. He decides he can take him to the eval and first treatment himself so I can get a break. My break is there for filled with telephone calls from hubby to get more information that is requested from him.

As early as last December Connor had very few words, very nonexistent eye contact, and rarely responded to his name. He didn't pretend play or even parallel play with other children. All of this was true in Jan when he was diagnosed. He has made remarkable progress since then and is very chatty, responds 75% of the time to his name, seeks attention, has a few 3 or more word sentences, sings songs, and the list goes on and on. He isn't anywhere near up to par with his NT peers of the same age but still it's gives us alot of hope that communication at least will improve to a point that we can have a back and forth conversation with more than 2 exchanges.

So when hubby came home from the first appointment with OT he had loads to tell me as most of the treatment session was another Q and A with the new therapist. First was that Connor remembered which rooms had the toys and wanted to go there so was a tad fussy at the beginning. Cool!

Second was the therapist said he was not as profoundly autistic as the rest of the patients. Great, but seems like a weird comment. Maybe it's just me.

Third, she says that if he continues to progress he could lose the diagnosis of autism in lieu of ADHD in a few years time. WTF?!

I instantly had visions in my head of the woman in the garage being told she needs a new engine when she came in for an oil change, or the Mother who pays loads of cash to the coach that insists her kid could be in the Olympics, or peddlers of snake oil to cure any and everything. I am fuming at this point, how dare she tell this gullible man, who only wants the best possible for his son, that in a few years time he may not be autistic!

I want to call her and talk to her about this. I want her to tell me her qualifications and motivations to make such a statement. How long has she been a therapist? How many autistic children has she treated and how many children has she actually seen this happen too?

Then the thought occurs to me that I know nothing at all about ADHD or how serious it can be. It just seems that short of life threatening diseases and more cognitively depriving conditions, almost anything is better than autism.