I don't want to jinx it, but I think last night was the culmination of the Stress Extravaganza that our little household had been going thru for the past week. Among other things, Mike's mom took a fall down some steps while visiting one of her sons and his family in Denver. She's alright but she did suffer some hairline bonebreaks and will be in a neckbrace for awhile. It was a pretty bad scare for everyone involved, tho, as I'm sure you can imagine. Back here in Pittsburgh our main computer at home went all wonky and we got seriously scammed thinking we were buying antivirus software. That resulted in about 4 hours of downloading and deleting and calling the bank to cancel our debit card and filling out a scam report for the FBI Online Consumer Protection Agency. AND we had to clean the house for Donovan's at home Assessment Appointment. Which was last night. Which is the main reason for this blog entry.
Our appointment was at 6:30 last night which was right when Pat, our contact from the Alliance for Infants and Toddlers showed up. When I opened the door I got a huge hug and a kiss from this lady that I'd never met and who then started fussing over my son, who was just being brought downstairs from the changing table by his Dad.
In retrospect, I'm not sure what I was expecting: a Mary Poppinseque carpet bag full of phrenology charts and 1950's era Geiger counters? Infrared cameras? The meeting was mainly Pat asking Mike and I questions but, the whole time, she was watching Donny and also watching us. It was pretty fascinating and she said a few things that really blew my mind. At one point, Donny ran into the kitchen and, as usual, Mike and I did'nt immediately follow after him. I explained (not that Pat asked) that Donny was a good boy and did'nt usually get into trouble when he was out of our sight. "That's because he's got two invested parents who pay attention to him. He knows he doesnt have to get into trouble to get your attention." ZING! Wow. So we had a nice chat and Donovan was very good. He played in his house, he played with his beads, he looked thru some books and played the piano. Pat was watching Mike and Donny on the piano and it made me realize that she must see a little bit of everything because she said, "That's really nice that you don't pressure him with the piano. Sometimes Dads and sons--well, Dads can be sort of overpowering sometimes..." In the end, we arranged with her for three specialists to come see Donovan at our place: a Nutritionist, an Occupational Therapist and a Speech Therapist. All of which are free--another thing that blows my mind. In a good way.
Pat was there for close to two hours. We went over a buttload of paperwork, clarified various forms and, once we finished, she gave me another big hug and a kiss and was out the door. Such a nice lady--and such a great feeling to know Donovan is going to get whatever help he needs.
1 comment:
That is great news!! So glad the visit went well, and that you'll get even more information from these other specialists' assessments. It's also nice as a parent to get outside confirmation that you're doing things right, isn't it?
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