The prognosis
Friday, October 09, 2009
The paediatric psychologist went to Martin's childcare to observe him there, and interviewed all the care workers in the toddler room. About a week after that, we had a family interview with her at her chambers (as they call a health care professional's offices here). Her prognosis was grim. "I'm so sorry," she said in parting, as if she was responsible. That wasn't so bad. It began to get bad when we received her official assessment in the mail. The person described on those few clinical pages did not sound like the loving, sensitive little boy we knew...And yet, every one of his behavioural oddities placed him right in the middle of the autistic spectrum. The running, the lack of group interaction, the speech delay, the intense focus on one thing at a time...We were in a daze for the rest of that week.
More like we were in a daze for the next few months, not just for the rest of the week ...