Adventures in Autism

Last week my son’s day care center closed unexpectedly and abruptly. I was, in a word, stunned.  (I will have to tell the story of how this happened later this week.  I’m still processing it all right now.) Fortunately, I was off work so we had some time to find a new day care. This is never a fun prospect when your child has autism.

I can always tell how the interview will go as soon as I mention the word “autism”. Some places don’t bat an eye and mention other kids they have who are on the spectrum. Other places? Yikes. Over the years I’ve done a lot of day care interviews, and the responses never cease to surprise me. This week one center heard “autism” and suddenly became full in the school age room. Another suddenly realized they don’t pick up at my son’s school. A third center was more than willing to try, but said, “We’ve never had a child with autism before.” They had a ratio of 26 kids to one teacher in the school age room. That’s probably why they’ve never had a kid with autism before!

I have some apprehension about our new center, but that is nothing new. I always have apprehension when B starts a new center. This place seems really well-designed, and the facility is very nice. B even had a really strong meltdown during the tour, and the director didn’t bat an eyelash. That was reassuring. Wish us luck! Tomorrow is the first day. I am sure I will be a big ball of anxiety all day waiting for the phone to ring. Fingers crossed!