Monday Musings

With beautiful weather this evening and an extra hour of daylight, we headed outdoors after supper to enjoy it. AJ and Dave went for a walk, while Teddy and I logged some running miles. As we ran along, I noticed that while not everyone smiled and interacted with us, the vast majority of folks did indeed smile at us. 

Now Wisconsinites are generally pretty friendly, so it's not unusual to greet strangers. What I noticed, though, was that most of the people who smiled at us were smiling as we approached. I realized, and said aloud to Teddy, that he simply brings people joy. I'm sure that his excitement to be outdoors and running was what brought a smile to their faces.

At the end of their run, Teddy and I visited a park to play for a few minutes while we waited for Dave and AJ. He loves parks and asked for it each time we ran past.

Teddy's a fan of parks any time and any where. Dave, not so much.

There were a couple boys around Teddy's age who had waved at us as we ran by the first time and waved again when we stopped at the park. I asked if they knew Teddy, and I heard them acknowledge they did. Teddy ran right up to them, and one of them hopped off the swing for Teddy to take a turn. 

When Teddy ran off to the playground structure to climb, the one boy encouraged the other to go play with Teddy. So, they did ... after singing the Barbie song. I figured Teddy was fine playing with his friends, so I walked his chair over to the picnic area before coming back to stretch.

It was really sweet to see them all playing together. The 2 boys included Teddy, offering him turns to race down the slides with them and encouraging him up the playground structure the one time he struggled because he was trying to scale up the wrong spot. I hadn't caught their names when I asked them the first time, so I tried to fish around to figure out which classroom at his school they were in to piece it together perhaps. 

I asked if they were in Teddy's classroom, and they both said no. Imagine my surprise when both of them said they went to different schools. *Whoops. I clearly misheard them when we first arrived at the playground.* 

I asked how they knew Teddy, and they said they didn't but they just liked making new friends. Then one of the boys said, "Not to be rude, but does he have a disability?" I shared that Teddy has autism and a genetic disorder. 

Well, the second part prompted quite a few questions to help them understand what that meant. I explained that Teddy doesn't talk like us, but he uses a tablet, sign language and gestures to communicate. The one boy said, though, "Oh, he's just like other kids but he doesn't talk." I said that it takes Teddy longer to learn to do things, like walk, but that he loves to have fun just like they do. 

The autism part they understood, so they questioned whether I knew every autistic child they knew. The one shared about his brother's autism diagnosis and how his brother loves to read about the things that interest him. 

The boys complimented Teddy's chair and thought it was really cool. They asked how far we ran, and I told them we ran 4 miles. The response was awesome from one of the boys: You're mom of the year! So I told them Teddy runs in races with it, and that we use it for biking.

That prompted the more outgoing boy to share that he loved riding bike with his dad, but his dad wasn't able to go for bike rides now. I got the sense where he was going before he said his dad was locked up for something he didn't do ... and that he won't see him until 2026. That broke my heart for him and made me realize, yet again, how blessed our family is to have a stable family unit despite the challenges that come with Teddy. 

That's about when Dave and AJ arrived, so we had to leave. I walked away a bit in awe of what had just occurred. Given how the boys interacted with Teddy, I would have sworn they were peers at his school. Instead, they were just being good humans who didn't think twice about including someone new, lending a helping hand where needed and seeking to understand and make connections. Seriously, I didn't even mention that Teddy didn't talk until the end of the conversation because, again, I thought they all knew each other. 

It was just a heart-warming moment of the best of humanity ... from two 5th grade boys. (And lest you think they were angels dropped into our lives, I can assure you they were 5th grade boys who also swore at least once and one bagged the other by accident. Pretty sure they're human.)

Springing Into Spring

It's been an unseasonably warm winter in Wisconsin, and that trend continues with an unseasonably warm and early spring. We all think Mother Nature is going to wreck havoc on our hopes (and unfortunately every living plant that has already started growing, not to mention all the critters out and about) with some wicked cold and snow yet. 

But for now we've been taking advantage of the warmer weather. That meant last weekend we spent the day at our land with light jackets (or no jackets when hiking) enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. It was a perfect day for tractor rides for Teddy, an outdoor picnic, ranger rides, fishing for Dave and some small but fun hikes. In other words, it was simply a perfect day.

Teddy found the swings and invited me to join the fun.

Aside from weekend fun, it's been busy here. We're on multiple wait lists for ABA services for Teddy, and that has come with a couple assessments. Most recently this week we had an assessment to start parent training, which is something one provider could offer as soon as next month until we can start services. (Wait lists for services range from summer to next January for the ones we're on, with plenty longer than that.) We're still praying and exploring and honestly waiting as we determine what therapy routes are best for Teddy. 

We also did an assessment for speech therapy and are going to attempt outpatient speech therapy again, at least to finish out the school year. That assessment was really tricky, though, because Teddy freaked out at that part of the clinic, and I literally had to carry him into the room. I'm not sure what triggered him, but I'm nervous it's going to continue as we attempt therapy. If that's the case, we won't make any headway with therapy because he'll never settle and be comfortable. So we'll see what happens.

He's also in a program called Advanced Development Motor Program, a program that partners UW-Oshkosh physical education students as part of their curriculum with kids with disabilities to provide a fun program for them. It's essentially 1.5 hours of gym, so Teddy loves it! In the past he's had a consistent "teacher," but so far this year he's trained 3 different "teachers." It's really a neat program that we're lucky to be able to access.

Aside from that, our next big challenge is finding childcare for summer. I know I've talked often about our amazing childcare providers. Unfortunately, neither of them are available for the hours we need this summer, so we're back to the drawing board. I like to think of this as a chance for us to "adopt" another person into our family. Ha, we probably won't be that lucky, but please do wish us luck as finding childcare for Teddy is always a challenge.