Last time, I talked about having a sister that has autism and how it all started before even knowing what she has. Which is not easy at all to be living through. I shared all the lows and now I am sharing some of the highs since I last shared.
I mentioned that there were two weeks waiting period on getting her diagnosis on paper but what we were not expecting was the many delays which caused more waiting. It was getting to an irritating point because my mom desperately needs of this single piece of paper in order to get my now 13-year-old sister some help and it is as if the doctors were dragging their feet.
Thankfully we finally got the document starting she indeed has autism. What are our next steps now? School. She has missed pretty much a whole year of school because she hasn’t gotten the document to allow her in a school that will help her emotionally and educationally. She is at the age where most kids are going to junior high.
For a young girl like my sister who can’t handle the thought of growing up, has high anxiety and autism would not do so well in a regular school so what school can she go to?
We found one school which so happen to be one of her old schools that recently specialized with kids who have autism. You would think this is a win but believe it or not the school wanted my mom to go register my sister into a junior high, ask them to refer her to this school. Weird process! Luckily she didn’t have to go the route and they handled everything. Which is amazing!
My mom and my sister recently went to visit the school and do a tour. My sister loved it and even wanted to try the school the next day. She did have a panic attack at school but what we like about the school is that the teachers and staff don’t call the parents to come pick up the child and bring them home unlike the previous school she was at. I love that fact! They handle the situation and specializes in calming the child down.
We are finally seeing more of a road compared to the fog street we been standing on for so long but there is so much more to make it to the finish line of getting all the right help for her. It will take a boat load of patience, a boat load fighting for your child and a never ending amount of time to get some results but it is what we are going to endure on this journey.
As said before, I thought I would share my story because it might be beneficial for someone out there to hear my story. I am going to continue to share and hope that I will gain some tips or even find more families who are going through similar situations.
