Archive - November 16, 2012

  At a recent group speech therapy session with my daughter I had a run in with the R-Word. But not in the way you might think. Parents watch these classes via closed circuit television from a separate room. It’s usually mothers, but at this session there were two dads in the mix. As the other moms and I watched and listened intently to the class, the two dads chatted about golf and business and other random topics. Instead of hyper-focussing on their kids the entire hour, they were relaxed, enjoying some social time, talking about subjects other than their children. Imagine that.  Whenever I’m in the presence of other moms who also have a child with special needs, the go-to topic of conversation is always our children. “What’s your child’s diagnosis? When did they start walking? Who’s their OT? Seizures? Are they on the spectrum?” etc. etc. etc. Truthfully, it’s kind of exhausting. And then here are these two dads—chatty, laid back, unconcerned.   I eavesdropped as one of the dads relayed this story about his daughter to the other dad . “We’re at this indoor playground and I see Kira push another kid. The kid’s mother runs over and starts[…]