Friday:
DC's transport broke down on their way to work this morning. They had to wait for a van to come from the agency to bring them the rest of the way. Knowing this was going to throw him, I face timed with him while they were waiting. Both DC and *Salli were a little bit upset (I think mostly worried that they were late) but they survived.
In the confusion, DC lost his water bottle.
I know this because he went "off script" when he called me this afternoon and told me that he lost it. The driver said he would check the broken car and have the agency check the van, on Monday. DC is very concerned that he now has to wait until Monday. This will be the topic of conversation all weekend.
Happy Friday!
#UnfinishedBusiness
From Facebook Statuses at Take Another Step
Later:
Update: the water bottle has been found. It was in the car that broke down. He will have it back on Monday. It's not as if he has an attraction to this particular water bottle, it was just that he knew it was lost. Now he knows it's been found and even though he doesn't physically have it - it's fine. It's been found. #TheWeekendIsSaved
Monday:
In case anyone was concerned.... DC was quite successful in his mission of spreading Autism Awareness to the entire neighborhood, outside at 7:30 AM.
I hate it when his day begins this way
:( #WeHateMondays
From Facebook Statuses at Take Another Step
DC's reactions to things often come much later than the actual event he is reacting to. It takes some doing to try to figure out what is happening because by the time he reacts, I have forgotten about whatever has happened and since he did not react at the time, I don't have any reason to believe that it bothered him.
I have written about this before here.
Monday mornings in DC-land are not always the best. Sometimes they are just brutal. As Monday's go, we were having a pretty decent morning. Right before his transportation was due to arrive, I saw that change in his eyes that I see when he is getting anxious.
I asked what was wrong.
"Nothing wrong!"
The driver arrived and got out of his car with the water bottle that DC had been so concerned about on Friday and walked up the sidewalk to give it to me. Since he already had a different bottle filled, I went to bring the other one in the house but he was not having it. He wanted to keep it with him. Thinking that the water bottle was the cause of his anxiety, it was not a problem for me to let him take it with him.
But then "IT" began and went on loudly for quite some time. Fortunately in the midst of this spreading of awareness, he yelled "Broke Down!".
He wasn't reacting to the water bottle at all, he was having a reaction to the van breaking down on FRIDAY! He seemed fine while they were stuck and I was face-timing with him. His only concern when he got home was his lost water bottle and after he knew that had been found, I never heard a word about any of it..... until Monday morning.
Monday's vehicle was not even the same vehicle that had broken down, but apparently the car breaking down had bothered him more than he was letting on.
The driver and I had to convince him that this car was not going to break down. I do not like making those kind of guarantees to him because as you know, anything can happen - a flat tire - anything. Under my breath, with clenched teeth, I prayed to the automobile gods that this car "better not break down".
Usually, due to a good amount of experience with his delayed reactions, I can eventually figure out what is going on, but this time I would have put money on the fact that this was all about the water bottle. If he didn't yell "Broke down!", I would have spent all of that time trying to console him about the water bottle. Which probably would have made things worse.
DC and I have officially done our part in spreading autism awareness this month. At least to the people living in our neighborhood because "Monday's" do not usually happen outside and if they do, not for that amount of time......
The car did not break down,(Phew!) he had his water bottle so all was well by Monday afternoon.
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This blog is used for short posts and also for longer Facebook statuses. Please visit my official blog site at: Taking it a Step at a Time
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