Bridge over troubled water.

From the recent school newsletter: "On 12/18/09, the CDC released the prevalence of ASD's is 1 in 110, or 1 in 70 males and 1 in 315 in females." This is based on data collected in 2006, and the numbers are increasingly yearly. So why, when caregivers of people with ASD's need it the most, are budgets being cut by thirty million dollars (or more) and services discontinued?

This is just one of the many frustrations I have dealt with this week. However, in the midst of all the turmoil, there is a ray of sunshine; a beacon of hope, if you will. Just today, within an hour of making contact with the person I needed to speak with at our county disability board, I had T screened in, approved for services, a service provider chosen, made contact with the service provider and been assigned a personal service coordinator.

Holy guacamole, folks! If you've been keeping track, it has been less than a week since we saw the doctor. That means we've seen the doctor, gotten the phone numbers, started T on his medication (today was another GOOD day at school!), contacted the disability board, contacted the service provider and begun what will likely be a rewarding and frustrating journey for my son and the rest of our family.

I am hopeful for the first time in a long time. T's medicine is working, the household is calm for the first time ever and we will now be able to provide T with the tools that he's needed for years, but couldn't afford or didn't know that we qualified for.

So, you bet your sweet bippy that I e-mailed the owner of the service provider (remember, she's the wife of our pediatrician) and explained how quickly this process has taken place and thanked her profusely for everything that she, her company and her husband have done for us. At a time when tempers are high due to lack of funding, I hope it will be nice for her to get some positive correspondence.

And, now we clean! I'm sure they will have to come to the house to evaluate T and goodness knows we don't want laundry sitting out or dog/cat fur all over everything. Plus, this will give us something productive to do while we wait for the service coordinator to call us!