waiting…
My little man has an appointment today for his assessment to begin ABA therapy at a clinic! As I get ready to finally feel like he’ll be settled in all the therapies he needs, I can’t help but look back with frustration at the process it took to get here. You see, this is after what feels like a long wait, along with multiple delays and hours upon hours spent on the phone and filling out forms. Just getting an appointment to have him assessed for autism, and eventually diagnosed, was a painstaking process. Getting in with the developmental pediatrician had taken over six months of wait when they informed me we still needed to wait another six months. At that point, we decided to pay out of pocket instead to have him assessed, which is not an option for everyone. He also currently receives speech therapy, occupational therapy, and Early Steps early intervention therapy, each of which also came with their own delays, which just added to my frustration level. Let’s be honest, did anyone have to control the urge to yell at the person on the other end of the phone when trying to schedule evaluations and therapies? Because I sure did! You see, my experience has been EVERYONE saying how great it is that my son was diagnosed early and how important early intervention is, followed up by, “but we have a long waiting list.” Worse than this though, was the agencies who told me they could take him right away, and after going to take a tour of the facility, added caveats so that there would be a six-month waiting list still.
I still feel as though it is unreal and cannot fully accept that he will begin ABA therapy soon. However, I keep telling myself not to despair because I know, partially thanks to my sister and partially thanks to my own research, how amazing ABA therapy is to help our wonderful kids. If you are currently in the waiting process, whether for testing, evaluations, or therapy, please don’t despair either; getting our kids what they need will be worth it in the end! And try not to yell at the people on the other end of the phone, they really do want to help!
