“Have you heard of ‘reservation time’?” our counselor asked. I shot my husband a blank look. I had no idea what he was talking about. “The Navejo have a custom,” he explained, leaning forward in his chair. “Families often live far apart without telephones, so rather than show up unannounced on a neighbor’s doorstep, they drive their cars within hearing distance of their neighbor‘s property. They … [Read more...]
For Richer or for Poorer
My husband and I often joke about robbing a bank. Or winning the lottery. Or coming into an inheritance. We’ve been joking for years because almost from the day our children were born, we have been in debt, despite many, many plans and schemes and dreams to bob our financial heads above water. You name it, we’ve been billed for it: therapies tried and true and sometimes new, doctor’s bills, … [Read more...]
Just A Piece Of Paper?
A marriage certificate. Divorce papers. A Do Not Resuscitate Form. An adoption certificate. A will, deed or pink slip. “Just a piece of paper”? Hardly. At the moment of issue, each irrevocably impacts the life of the recipient, and ripples out into the lives of everyone surrounding. On August 20, 2004, a 4×6 sheet of paper leveled my life, when a pediatric neurologist scribbled … [Read more...]
Waiting…
It's the life of a parent raising a child with special needs -- endless waiting. After we wait in great expectation for the arrival of our child, whether by birth or adoption, we begin the journey trying to figure out why something doesn't seem quite right. It can be glaringly apparent or something just subtly "off" that we notice. We wait for a diagnosis... Once we have some idea what we … [Read more...]
Quiz: How Would YOU Handle This Doctor Visit?
The only redemptive feature of hours and hours in doctor waiting rooms is the abundance of fun magazines. Ok, not abundance. More like a handful of worn, outdated family magazines which, to their credit, at least offer some "Oh, I haven't tried that one before" snack-making ideas. But even those magazines can have interesting quizzes in them. As I left the neurologist's office yesterday morning, … [Read more...]
Don’t Give Up
Above us and around us—and sometimes even inside of us—thunderstorms are building. Sometimes these storms may come from behind the closed doors of your doctor’s office, or on the other end of the phone line…or from your child with special needs. I’ve spent almost 16-years years as a parent to a child with special needs. More years than some of you. Not nearly as many as others who are … [Read more...]