Small Victories

We dubbed today “Appointment Day” because, well, that’s pretty much what we did all day.  I’ll spare you the boring details, but suffice it to say we left for the first provider just after 10:00 this morning and finally got home from the last one around 3:30 this afternoon.

We try not to schedule too many visits on the same day because it is tiring for all of us and we never know how kiddo will respond, but there are times when they just line up that way.  Today was one of those times.

What was most exciting to me was that kiddo did great at the appointment scheduled right before lunch.  And we were quite surprised.  That timing is always a crap-shoot because he’s less manageable when he’s hungry (aren’t we all?) and his history at this particular provider’s office has been volatile the past three visits – enough so that I’ve taken him back out to the van during two of them.

Today, not only was he calm and in control of his body, but he was engaging and laughing and quite pleasant to be around.  And, for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like the eyes of everyone in the waiting room were focused on us.  Gosh, that was a relief!

The best part, though, was when the provider shared with kiddo what a great job he did today by staying in control of his body, voice and actions.  The provider compared it to the past few visits (kiddo remembers; his mind is a steel trap) and talked with him about what he was doing differently so kiddo could connect the dots to repeat more of the same behavior.  It was clear kiddo understood what he had done, and the pleased look on his face was such a welcome change.

It was a breath of fresh air to have an appointment like this since so many prior visits have been filled with frustration and lacking information.  By no means are we done with these visits, nor do we believe kiddo fully understands how to get his processing back on track when he goes “offline,” but it’s a victory I’ll take.  I don’t care how small it might seem – I put one in the “Win” column for today!