bleh.

I took the kids to the mall along with a friend of Gia's.

Today I'm paying for it, but it was worth it. We stayed for a long time.

Gia got her ears pierced again. The entire time she and her friend were going through this process, there was a man watching them. I didn't realize until we got out of the store that he and his wife were in *Cl@ires too long.

I have not run into that before. I've sent the girls to the mall before. They have a cell and they call often. Now I see someone like that.

I told the girls about him and when we got out of the store I realized that there was something wrong with him. He would talk to his wife and she would look unhappy. Maybe they were just shoplifters, but shoplift in a kids store? Check out all the kids and my daughters? Doubtful.

Yuk.

Anyway.

Did I mention Ben got his diagnosis of Autism?

I'll have to read the previous.

I'm not bummed out, but the night of the diagnosis, I looked at him sleeping and felt a momentary sadness. He's such a little guy. And he doesn't know any different. He's smart. He's already doing quite a bit and has learned a lot in the past couple of weeks.

I received a letter in the mail from UW Autism Center about the services for the early intervention team. $100 for an evalution. $100 for an evalution for another type of therapist. $140 for 2 therapists combined and another $100 for another type of therapy. This is $100 an hour.

At first it infuriated me because how do regular families afford this? I got over that way of thinking. Somehow he'll get his therapy. I have stopped working to be home with the kids. He's already getting therpay with a service that is no cost to us.

If you work at Micr*s*ft, you get the entire treatment paid for.

Here it is, Therapy consultation, $100 an hour. Assessment Evaluation, $100 an hour. Supervisory Consultation, $100 an hour. Combined Consultation, $145 an hour.

Having your child diagnosed with Autism? Priceless.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

So far I'm not asking why. That happened to my sister in law. The whole guilt, where did it come from, who's at fault, etc etc.

To me, that part doesn't matter. I'm not critizing her for her response because each person deals with it differently and there is no wrong or right way to deal with this.

Because of my nephew, having the diagnoses of autism in the family, we were watching to an extent and the second Lee and I agreed we were seeing something different with Ben, we got him on the list with the UW. When we heard about the other therapy services, we got him in there as soon as we could

Because I worked in group homes, babysat autistic teenageers when I was very young and TA'd for special ED in highschool that I knew someone was going on with Ben. Lee was in agreement. Because Lee was also in agreement, it's probably the only reason he was diagnosed so young.

If you think something is "up" with your child, listen to yourself and go with it. We had most people saying "Well, he is a boy and boy's develop...."

Don't listen to that. If you think something is "off", don't go into denial. Try not to. Don't let other people talk you out of having your child evalutated.

The experts say early intervention and they're right, yet the UW waiting list was over a year wait. We're lucky we heard about the other place because he's already getting speech therapy.

The other place we're going to doesn't advertise. I've driven past it for years and thought it was a daycare facility.

++++++++++++++++++++++

In other news, congratulations to YOU for getting whatever job you got. West Regional Manager? Something? Anyway, it's probably not "regional" but it's THE WEST and that's not a suprise. And it's very good for the company.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

What else is going on? The mall. Creepy men in the mall. Snow. Now raining. If I lived in Ak with IrishEyes, I'd be in heaven. Probably for a few weeks. Do you guys get sick of the snow??

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Tanya McBee Gunby | Create Your Badge