Saturday 6 April 2013

Long Road

So here I am, exhausted and all I want to do is write.  Where the heck did that come from?? 

Today was incredibly overwhelming.  Let me start by saying that John and I had a lovely evening last night and we had 5, count them, 5 meals together with no kids.  Wild times! 

The conference we went to today started at 8am and went until nearly 6pm  We heard some of the best autism specialists in the country speak, we heard the founder of TACA, Lisa Ackerman speak.  She's awesome.  And we both feel completely overloaded.  On one hand, all I can think is, "my God we have so far to go, so much left to do for these boys".  On the other hand, I think "thank God there is so much left to try for the boys".  At some point in the near future I will go into some of the new directions we plan to take (think south- like maybe Florida), but tonight I don't have it in me. 

I am feeling emotional.  And thankful.  Today was my 37th birthday.  You would think that an autism conference would not necessarily be the way to go for a festive day, but for me, it was really, really good.  I felt less alone today than I have in a very long time.  All day, I could look around and see the faces of others going through the same things as us.  While it makes me sad for them, as I wouldn't wish this on any parent or child, there is an incredible sense of community, just being in that same room.  And this common thread did not end with the other attendees of the conference.  It extended to the presenting providers.  It seems that these amazing, committed physicians all have children with disabilities, two of three had children with autism.  Well that makes sense, right?  Their passion?  Their willingness to speak for free?  How inspiring, and how reassuring to know that these individuals are on the road WITH us. 

And I was the proud spouse of one of maybe 20 (of about 120 attendees) of the husbands who attended the conference today.  John is fired up too after today, and that feels amazing.  Our family feels amazing.  Tomorrow I will begin new lists, and start prioritizing our next interventions.  But tonight I am just going to bask in our new knowledge and try not to over think things.

Oh, and I got a DRY ERASE supplement schedule board! For each kid!  That alone made attending the conference worthwhile!

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