Finale

Last night, I was practicing violin with my 8 year old (neurotypical) son. On the final chord, Sharkboy, who was playing with his sister in the other room, let out a scream (long and whistling-pete-like) and IT WAS ACTUALLY PERFECTLY IN TUNE! It was glorious (and he was fine - it's usually something like he dropped a lego).

Spring Break

Spring Break - 9 days of no school, no schedule. Attempted to have Sharkboy spend a few days with his Grandma and Grandpa in a nearby town. No go. I gave him a 24 hour heads-up and he was excited. Grandma said that within two minutes of me driving away, he started crying and just completely fell apart. They made the call, grabbed his suitcase, and chased me down the freeway.

I'm a bit disappointed because in the past he has stayed with our relatives for a few days by himself. I feel like we're going backwards. Grandma said, "He was capable of doing it a year ago. He may be capable of doing it next year. Today, he just can't do it."

I thought Sharkboy might regret his decision. He had really been looking forward to hanging out with his cousin. Funny thing - he never said one word about it. His (neurotypical) cousin cried when she found out he wasn't staying.

From my anonymous blog, I can tell you: I was looking forward to the break. It would have been a good 72 hours with no sharkboy meltdowns, miscommunications, struggles, blow-ups. This may sound dramatic, but living with Sharkboy has given me a touch of PTSD. It's like living in tornado country and I was really looking forward to a few days in a milder climate.

Support Group

This last weekend, we met some other Aspergers families at a city park. I looked forward to being around other people similar to us. It was really nice talking to some of the parents and discovering that they had experienced some of the same things I had.

For instance, I still have resentment (I know, I have to get over it) towards the speech therapists that my son saw. At the time, he was four and had no diagnosis (didn't know he needed one). Speech therapy with him was fruitless, I felt. But I doubted myself too. Eventually, we quit. My son had doors in his mind that were clearly locked and the therapist did not have the right keys. Very frusterating. I discovered that two of the other parents had the same experience.

How affirming - to know that you're not crazy and difficult. We're definitely going back to this group. Besides, I need to pick their brains on their experiences with diet change/DAN doctors/naturopathic medicine.