My Backyard

The Visit

When I arrived the sun was setting on a beautiful day. Clear skies, a cool breeze, dry, and much like the fall I so missed. The maze of the apartment complex was not as bad as I had feared. You know the ones..... where you just decided not to go anyway? I was here to meet a new family. I had already been chosen for the WSC and I had already been invited to a very important meeting with all the professionals involved with my young customer.

I remembered the apartment. I had been in a few myself. Except this one had no door knobs, no knick-knacks or pictures. A place where a small family was living as best they could.....under the circumstances.

My young customer made a great sound when we met. He is a handsome boy with shiney dark eyes. He was almost as big as his mom and getting stronger. His building blocks were strewn all over his bed in an otherwise neat room. When his mom and I sat to talk, he was constantly interrupting directly or by doing something that was a potential problem. He had very attention-getting behavior. A couple got my attention fast.
< br /> As his mom struggled with him, she described a boy who gets up every morning and turns on an old and broken computer. When it doesn't respond, he turns it off and goes about his day. The one at school works, she says, and he does very well. He can read and point to letters, making words to express himself. She is very grateful for the help of all the people involved, but wishes they would help with the really important things. Like an hour or two of rest, the expense of buying the "pull-ups" that he needs for school and the behaviors that might get him hurt. And, they need to stop blaming his grandmother for ruining the behavior plan. She lowered her eyes and said a little softer..."I'm doing the very best I can but I am so tired and she is getting old".

We talked about the waiver, the budget, his rights, the basic identification information, the usual. I gave her my phone and pager number. I told her that I was here to serve her son and his family. I declared that we would do what was needed together. My mind was racing. I heard it talking about opening that taco stand at the beach. It was also rehearsing the speeches about only doing what you can...the "it's only a job" routine that keeps the panic from setting in.

I was saying goodbye as he was making noises and running up and down the hall. I turned and his mom was in the kitchen reaching up high to get something. As I stood at the door, I realized it was the key to the front door bolt. It had to be hidden away. We said goodbye and as I turned I heard the bolt click home. It was then I cried.

-ags 02/02/1998

Go Back...

Quotes:

Sometimes, when you go looking for your dreams, you don't need to look any further than... ...your own backyard.
-AGS

The squirels have become more and more selfish, once they had a constant supply of food. They guard and chase and push each other out of the tree.. to protect their food. When there was no abundance of food, they chased each other for fun. Go figure.
-AGS