I was asked the question abt what has changed in Tori's life. I had stated that I was proud of her parents, but now I say that I wish they could get counseling. This is not a slight to the parents, but more of a realization that they need support in dealing emotionally with what is happening in their lives. I am also aware that having an autistic child has it's emotional ups and downs.
Counseling can include anything...planning meals, arranging the house, etc. It only means getting other opinions, more information.

I have been increasingly concerned abt what effect it has on Tori, to be taken away from her home every day, for 8 + hours. There was a comment that she was with her habilitator all day, and became very upset that a child was on the swing she had been on. Apparently, she was upset for abt 90 minutes. This is not unusual behavior for an autistic child. But, I am wondering what else is going on in Tori's life. That's all. What is going on in those 8 hours?

I have had too many years of professional training and experience, 35 years to be exact, to not question EVERYTHING that goes on in a child's life. Tori is an unusual child, getting services that the ordinary child does not get. Autism is still a new field and a whole bunch of the questions are still not answered. The national experts still don't understand this disorder. There are millions of dollars going into Autism research, with the hope that we can understand it better. I can't completely understand it, and I am much more of an expert than most educated people are.

I am proud of her parents for sticking through this. I also wonder if some sort of additional help for the parents might be beneficial. They are not experts in autism. I have wondered if having someone come in from SARRC to talk to them in a general way, about autism, about things they could do to help make bed time easier, etc might be beneficial. So, nothing has changed in Tori's life, unfortuately.

About five months ago, I asked the family if I could take Tori to the month long SARRC training. I told them that there is a waiting list, and to just get her name on that list now. They could always remove their name from the list. I said that I would pay for this training and take time off from work to do this. This would only be 2 days a week, 2 hours a day. I was told that the mother wanted to attend that training. I said, "OK", I will come over and babysit the twins, and the mother can take Tori to the training. I was told that the mother was looking at a number of resources. Time was of the essence, and by the time the mother called, the list was full. So, Tori missed that opportunity.

Sometimes adults are so wrapped up in themselves, and so defensive, they can not see the forest for the trees. They can not understand that we are all on the same team, on Tori's Team. But that is their problem.