Costco

We went to Costco tonight. While we were there, we had dinner. Yes, we cheated on our GFCF diet, but Kyle ate a hot dog without the bun so he was okay. Isaac was so happy to eat pizza! We sat right next to an 8 year old kid and his 2 year old brother and dad. The 8 year old had autism and I could tell within 10 seconds of them sitting down. He was doing a lot of hand flapping and rubbing and flapping the table and moving his eyes and head all funny. I just knew he had autism. So I striked up a conversation with his dad. I wasn't sure how to pop the A question, but I found the right opportunity. Isaac was really excited about his ice cream and he was being very vocal about it, as he was telling the guy (John). I said, "yes our older son here does all the talking and our younger son doesn't talk at all, because he has autism." And so of course he said "oh yeah my son Thomas has autism." So anyways, he was a very interesting child. Really neat to see an older kid with autism and how they act. So far now, I've met an 8 year old, and a 16 year old. Thomas' dad John was a really nice guy. Because Thomas has severe autism, John and his wife have been through EVERYTHING therapy, even Dr. Smith. I was really curious about Thomas' schooling, so John went into great detail about how he had to do battle with Pasco school district and his insurance companies to get Thomas the appropriate education. He has a ton of connections, and knows Kristie from the Child Developmental Center. He said she is probably the best person to see in the Tri-Cities, as she is very specialized with autistic kids. Kyle will be seeing her very soon. She is the one doing his evaluation for therapy. John takes his son to Spokane and Gonzaga a lot to work with different specialists. He is a neat kid though! His dad told him to say "bye" and although he didn't say it, he really looked focused and tried hard. You could tell he really wanted to say it. These kids are absolutely fascinating. I was fortunate to meet John. He gave me his card and said I could call him anytime, which I probably will. He works for a chemical company as a field biologist, and has his PhD in biology.

 

We were loading the stuff up in the trailer in the parking lot and John came by in his truck and gave kyle one of those spinning wind wheels on a stick that we used to play with when we were kids. I hadn't seen one of those in forever. Kyle absolutely loved it! He laughed really hard when momma blew on it and made it spin.  

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~Nate.