I’ve forgotten.

I went to Edda’s school today for a parent orientation. Stuff like what to bring on the first day of school, who to call to get status on a bus route, snack fees, etc. No big deal. I think I won’t have time to do much more of this soon and I am generally more patient than Jeremy about these things, so I went for the hour-long talk. There were 5 other parents there – dragged in during lunch time on Monday and we all sat there dutifully with pens poised over Xeroxed sheets ready to fill out details of our child’s life.

It has been a while since I’ve been around a group of people with special-needs kids. Actually, it has been a long time since I’ve been around a group of parents at all. I get a little tense and overwrought in a group where the focus is primarily the kids. I don’t know why, I just do.

Of course – most of the kids in Edda’s school are autistic – no surprise there. The after-meeting conversations head towards GFCF – soy free diets (no wheat/no dairy/no soy for the uninitiated), biomedical interventions (mega Vitamin A doses and metal chelation to leech out heavy metals) and various benefits of ABA, etc. One mom had even purchased a hyperbaric chamber (!) for use in their home and said that it has worked wonders for her kid.

Am I doing enough for Edda? My expectations remain high for her – we’ve gotten her into the “right” school and have good private therapists and we are doing some things at home, she’s having an active and well rounded life with family and friends. But I haven’t put her on a restricted diet, I haven’t done 40 hours/week of ABA, I haven’t purchase my own pressurized oxygen chamber.

8 thoughts on “I’ve forgotten.”

  1. Not doing enough for Edda? Well, what are you doing with your days? going to meetings at school, worrying about her, looking for a job, knitting, Jeremy’s sewing and hiking and picking up trash. Yeah all you two do is sit around and eat bon bons every day. Shameful I tell ya!

  2. Doris, I agree with Donald, you are doing just fine. With all these bells and whistles, that is fine also.

    Just spend more time with Edda and assuming that she can understand and absorb whatever people give to her but can not express herself properly is the way to go. In short, interact with her as much as you can.

    Well, again, you’re doing fine.

  3. Oh Doris, please don’t beat yourself up. You are *totally* doing enough. I’m sure if Edda could choose, she’d choose a romp in the park with you and the family over a hyperbaric chamber any day of the week.

  4. It’s a sealed round tube that can fit a person lying down and you crank up the pressure and pump oxygen into it. It’s mainly used for scuba divers who get the bends, but sometimes used when you want to increase oxygen concentration in the blood.

  5. I know JUST how you feel! We put way too much pressure on ourselves as moms of these precious girls. I KNOW that the love Edda receives and the fun she has with you and your family outweighs everything. We do what we can(…and more most days.) Although, people reading this that would know me would say I need to take my own advice! All moms worry about their kids – our worries are just about different things! There will always be times we can be doing more but there NEVER be too much FUN and LOVE for our girls!!

  6. Doris, you are doing fine. It is difficult to be a mom especially to be a special mom. 100% mom is a big job. I was not a 100% time mom. Office can be a place to concentrate something else, which is good

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