Enormity

Great day in the autism department. We met with the child psychologist and she was smart, kind, and most importantly, well-educated about autism. She honed in on the emotional regulation issue immediately. But what I liked the most was how much time she spent on his exceptional and amazing qualities. (and that she really listened to him)

For the first time I realized that the reason I've discounted a lot of what we've heard from the special education teachers at his school is that they never seem to view him as a whole person. It always feels like he's a set of issues that need to be overcome. That they're just doing what they can to get him back into the herd.

But the woman we met today - let's call her Dr. Wonderful - saw him as a whole person. A charming, smart, articulate little boy who gets overwhelmed and doesn't know how to express himself. A person that's coping the best way he knows how. She shrunk his autism down to size, rather than letting it take up the whole frame, as it so often likes to do.

The plan is to keep seeing Dr. Wonderful to work on helping him regulate his emotions - which, she explained, basically comes down to "learning to tell people what you need, so that they can give it to you." (couldn't we all benefit from such a lesson?) If he can learn how to do this, we should be able to reduce, if not eliminate, the meltdowns that disrupt his everyday activities. (Insert huge sigh of relief)

That's what she's doing for Owen. But what she did for me today was confirm what I've long suspected, but still allow myself to doubt sometimes: He's going to be okay.

Sure, school will be a little harder for him sometimes. Conversations might always take more effort for him. But in the grand scheme of things, he's fine.

I know it seems small, but it's not. It's enormous.