Coping with Autism

Well, tomorrow is it. My husband and I are both nervous about what to expect at the cranial-facial clinic. We think Peter will be okay as far as the stresses-of-the-day are concerned. But you never know with autism-- so we're praying that he's cooperative. I did talk to the coordinator of the clinic. This is how it works: we get to MCV (the Medical College of Virginia) in Richmond around 7:30 a.m., register, and then proceed to the neurology suites. There we'll camp out in the waiting room and wait to be called back to see a variety of specialists. Peter will see a psychologist, speech therapist, dentist, eye doctor, Ear, Nose and Throat doctor (ENT), etc. Then he will see the cranial-facial surgeon, plastic surgeon and neurosurgeon at the same time for thorough exam that they will do jointly. We'll break for lunch and when we come back the team of specialists will meet with the families individually to discuss their findings. It's at this point they decide if your ...

Okay, maybe more like C-F for Cranial-Facial day but we've put a great deal on hold until after the 17th so it is a bit like D-Day in that it marks a major date requiring significant, flexible planning (granted, the entire free world doesn't depend on it so that's a load off my mind). And it complicates things since we don't know what our schedule will be like in the coming months. When I spoke with the nurse in the neurosurgeon's office before Christmas, she said that she would likely call right before the clinic with a list of suggested surgical dates. I haven't heard from her and rather than be a pest we're waiting until Monday to see what the team says. I am hopeful that Peter won't have to have the surgery but we'll see. The day after the cranial-facial clinic I meet with Peter's teachers, et al. for his IEP meeting. So far, the rough draft suggests that in order to prepare him for mainstreaming in kindergarten they need him to go to school ...