I walked into the doctor’s surgery feeling a bit nervous. I didn’t know what to expect, I just knew we would be there for two hours and that they were going to do two types of assessment. I didn’t know what the assessments would involve, I hadn’t prepared myself for the emotional impact either – It’s hard to discuss your son’s behaviours in so much detail with a stranger.
Bam was taken to a different room to be assessed by a speech therapist and a psychologist. I hadn’t prepared myself for him to be on his own…I wanted to be there to support him. It was a very long hour sat in the waiting room, wondering if he was ok, wondering what he was thinking. The second hour, the three of us sat and spoke to the doctor. We discussed Bam’s behaviour in detail.
Then towards the end of the hour, literally five minutes from the end of our appointment, Bam was diagnosed with high functioning autism. It wasn’t a total surprise so why did I feel so shocked when the doctor announced he was in no doubt that Bam was autistic. Maybe it was hearing it out loud, maybe it was because it was now confirmed, maybe it was because he was so confident in his diagnosis.
We left the doctor’s surgery and I felt numb…my brain was busy processing this new piece of information. What did it mean, how would it help? Would it help at all? How would we explain it to Bam and Mops. Had we done the right thing seeking the diagnosis?
At that point in time, when the doctor tells you your child has autism, you just feel totally overwhelmed. There’s so many questions, so many things you want to know but the doctor hasn’t got the time to answer the questions. Also, I didn’t want to ask lots of questions in front of Bam because I wanted to tell him in a way that he would understand, in an environment that he felt comfortable in.
So you walk out the doctors surgery feeling numb….feeling overwhelmed….feeling emotional….
Slugs and Snails Tales 