What I am learning....

SO. I waded through the list of service providers on the Provider List. I have found a Psychologist. A Behaviour Specialist. I don't know what they will do or how they will help, I just know that someone, somewhere along the line told me it was a good idea.


I love the Psych straight away. She engages Cyclone from the first moment.....and he falls in love and immediately starts showing off. BEST behaviour. Packs away the toy he plays with before selecting a new one from the shelf. Without being asked. The Psych notices my jaw on the floor and winks at me. (***note this point well, I'll address it in the next post***)


Her assistant mucks about on the floor with Cyclone whilst I tell her why we are there.


After I explain the story so far, the psych gets back to Cyclone. She whispers to me not to interfere, that she is going to try and push some buttons. She does this in seconds.

She also brings him back. Then she sets him off and brings him back again.


I realise I am here with people that are knowledgeable. They know, they understand how this brain works and I am grateful they are there for us.


The psych is quite young and once I think that would bother me. I once would prefer a wizened old professor type with leather patches on his elbows nodding sagely over a mahogany desk. Years of experience behind him.


Not now. Autism has only been really recognised and studied over the last 20 years or so. My father is a (retired) psychologist and one of the first things he said after reading the diagnosis report is that 'they seems to be doing all the right things, but so much has changed, so much more research done'.

I spend 2 weeks filling in a behaviour sheet and return for a second appointment where I am shown all sorts of exercises to do at home. Recognising emotions in others, relaxation and self-soothing, using pictures and flow charts to help Cyclone move from one activity to another. I note to make it as fun and happy as the psych does herself.

I think Cyclone is in love.

I get a HUGE folder at the end of the appointment to record what exercises we do and how often. I also am given a 'contract' to sign - which states that I must recognise the value of persistence. That I (and the family) must commit to the strategies given, that it is a long road but the benefits will be enormous.

This is early intervention.

So now I don't mind that I am homeschooling. It give me more time to work with Cyclone. It gives me solid direction and although it's tiring and frustrating at times, the more I remember to laugh the easier it is.