Office Visit

Jenny brought the boys for hot dogs in the park that is right outside my office on Monday. They had a great time chasing the birds and squirrels, and running on the rocks by the little stream. Dominic was a little to outgoing with strangers, pausing to say hello to everyone he met. Even Rowan commented (tattled) that he was talking to strangers.

Of course everyone then had to go up to the office and use the bathroom. As Dominic ran up and said hello to everyone, Jenny would explain that it was part of his autism to not really have any personal boundaries.

Since I have only told a few people in the office that Dominic is autistic, this was some news and of course required some explaining. As outgoing as I am, I'm not really that good at explaining or talking about Dominic's autism. It is easier because he is so outgoing and pleasant, but it is certainly not easy.

Anyway, now most of the office knows, and I guess that's a good thing because on one of these visits I'm sure he will have a tantrum, or not want to change from what he is currently doing. It will make explaining easier.

One more step in autistic parenting.

What Does World Wide DnD Mean

I love DnD - not as much as family, faith, friends and all that, but I still love it. I don't really know why, I guess I can't really identify that one thing about it that keeps me coming back to playing. It could be the imagination - I like making up stories and even better starting a story and seeing other people add/change/destroy it. It could be the groups that I've played with. I see a lot of similarities in the people that are drawn to DnD. Lets face it - we're geeks.

Anyway, today is World Wide Dungeons & Dragons Day. It's a new celebration that Wizards of the Coast has started to publicize the game. I know it's there just to sell more games, but it is great to see all the folks that come out to celebrate. These are my people, and I am one with them. We play DnD, and today we are loud and proud.

An Official Diagnosis

Spent Monday and Tuesday taking Dominic to and talking with Doctors and Psychologists and therapists at the Alexander Center. They all seemed very interested, and took the time to read and study the work done by the staff in our school district as well as doing their own testing. The one new component was the speech therapy. The therapist looked at overall speech levels, and compared that to communicative or social speech and vocabulary. That was something that really defined some of the issues that Dominic has with other kids.

Their official diagnosis was Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not otherwise Specified (PDDNOS - yes it is vague). I try to explain it to people as Aspergers without the repetitive of focused interest. Although that assumes people know what Aspergers is. Might be easier to explain it as High Functioning Autism, but that carries its own stigma or stereotype.

Anyway, they are suggesting some organized and structures play or socialization groups, and some occupational therapy (play therapy, because that's his job right now). My biggest concern is that he is ready for Kindergarten, and is a capable learner. I know he's smart - I want him to have opportunities.

I'm glad that is behind us, we can take this official diagnosis to the school district and make sure Dominic has all the help he needs.


******************************************************************
Story Ideas continued:

So what happens when you like your "new" personality better than the old. What happens when you find/capture/kill someone from your previous experiences.

What happens when your memory wipe is on top of another memory wipe?