Circles

I know i've been out of sight lately.  I feel like I've dropped off of the Blogging world lol. Not without good reason that's for sure.


We've been working SO HARD with Tommy. To completely RE-schedule his days (so that it will accommodate camp from 9am-12noon).  Further, getting him "INTO" just trying camp. GOING. Going was the big part.  Everyday we would talk about it slightly more and more.  By that I mean, 1 or 2 more sentences at a time.  He'd get nervous and and give me "don't worry about it" and he'd change the subject.  It's been such a long process.  At the same time, we were tweaking speech around so Tommy never got set to specific days (if he STAYS at camp, he'll get speech there. If camp is a no-go, we'll go back to home schooling with speech) Tommy gets STUCK on things.  Times you do things, times you can go to which store.. so we've been working on UN-sticking things.  Changing plans at the last minute.  EVERYBODY has been working on these things. Last Wednesday we went and took a tour.  He SEEMED excited.  Didn't even seem bothered that it was at an elementary school (i really thought he'd NOT go for that)


So today, here we are.  It's been 1 hour and 42 minutes that he's been at camp.  We drove the long way there so we could see all the dish network satellites (they wanted us there AFTER all of the drop offs were done so Tommy could enter the building with less chaos.  And that he did.  I was a disaster when we got there. (of course I was early. When I TRY to be late, im early.  Go figure). "Bub, lets wait 3 minutes. mama likes this song" (i really didn't.. i just needed more air to breathe.)  At 9:12 we got out of the truck, put his new backpack and we're in the door.  He sees his 2 familiar faces and says to me "bye mom, see you at noon!" and walked away.  I, froze.  I never thought we'd get this far.  His speech Teach comes to get him and I give him the "deer in the headlights look" and he tells me, "go ahead mom, we'll see you later".  So of course I have to sit in the parking lot and cry.  We did it.


Even if the day was a complete disaster, I'm ok with that.  He has tried very hard.  He's overcome SO MANY things over the course of this year.  The doctors that failed us.  The school that merely abandoned him (unless we were going to place him in their residential facility)...walking away from ALL of the negativity, and letting Tommy guide US.  It's all come together.  He can only do, what he CAN do.  Getting him to do what WE.. WANT him to do, isn't possible.  I see this now.  I understand this now.  Things have been so much NICER now that we've taken this approach.  Of course he has his days and moments of being a complete ASS... or the full moon takes Autism and swings it around like a mace... we all understand each other.  That makes all the difference in the world.


You realize I'm mostly babbling here just to waste time. (i get to leave in 20 minutes to pick him up).  lol


Of course we have many many back-ups to all of this.  He can go 3 times a week 3 hours a day or 1 hour a week.  Or, not at all.  Just the fact that he's there? ugh, Just makes my day.


We see the greatest man in the world tonight on top of it all. Tommy's psychiatrist.  On top of, I don't have to cook tonight because I promised him Wendy's on the way back from Cleveland..


OH LOOK! IT'S TIME TO GO!!! ... updates will follow 






<3