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earthmama said:
Well, today is day 8 of T's vacation. I have an appointment on Monday (only 4 more days).
T has been on a few vacations since I started therapy, but this is the hardest one yet. I think it's partly because I am so attached to him, but it's also because my entire support system kind of fell apart at the same time. One of my best friends left for a month in Sweden the same day T left. My other best friend has been really sick, and just sleeping ever since he left. Hubby is depressed (he goes through cycles). And T is gone.
I used to be really, SUPER, self-sufficient. I didn't rely on anyone for anything. Since starting T, I've learned to let other people support me. And now I feel like everyone around me has said "go ahead, jump out of the plane, you've got a parachute" and I'm halfway to the ground and my parachute has disappeared.
Plus, my autistic son started a camp this week. He just turned 8 and since we homeschool has never done anything without me. He's really inquisitive and really in his own head a lot, and people just DO NOT get that he might wander off at any second. It's so scary to me. The camp is a social skills group FOR autistic kids, so I know they probably know what to expect, but it's still been really scary and I don't have anyone to talk to about it since everyone is gone, in one way or another.
This is hard.
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I used to have a friend (he moved to NYC, haven't seen him since) that had Aspergers. He went to college and did alright. What kind of autism does your son have? Don't answer if you don't want to
I enjoy working with special needs, LD, and ADHD children sometimes, and my interest stems from two young nephews of mine who are mildly mentally challenged (I hate the words "mentally challenged/retarded").
I don't think you have to worry very much, because people who are trained to work with autistic children are well aware that they can wander off at any moment.
I often don't have people to talk to about my own inner-world, and other than my spouse and my T., I don't. I have learned to stay quite busy when I can't discuss something that's eating at me, or even imminent.
I find that most people... are poor listeners anyway. Have you ever taken up an exercise program before? It is good distraction, and it also helps both physically and mentally.