Boo’s magical day finally arrived, October 21, 2020, seven and a half months after he had left school. The bright yellow object of his desires pulled up in front of the house and he climbed on without a backward glance.
Slowly, schools are starting to reopen. The first to open, in a hybrid fashion, are level 4 schools, which include Bridge View and Focus Beyond. I had not talked much about going back to school to Boo because I was afraid it would not happen. In fact, I really did not mention it at all until Monday of this week. We were out walking around our neighborhood and we saw some school busses. Boo perked up immediately. I told him that the bus was coming for him on Wednesday morning. On the appointed morning I woke him up early and got him dressed. He did not seem to think I was serious about school happening until the bus pulled up. He had a look of complete astonishment on his face. Nonethless, he hopped right on.
I received several calls from his wonderful teacher that first day. She was worried that he would not eat breakfast or lunch. I told her not worry, he was probably just too excited about being in school to eat and he would eat when he came home. She called again at the end of the day to tell me that he had had a wonderful day, done all his work and seemed very happy. The speech therapist also contacted me about setting up a new communication app on his school iPad.
Boo returned home at 4:30 that afternoon, ravenous and in a wonderful mood. He ate his way through the refrigerator and then happily went off to his room to stim with Dapi (our nickname for iPad.) He crashed early last night, and zonked out for a good 11 hours. This morning he was sleepy but ready to go again. This is the happiest I have seen him in months. He is bright, engaged and cheerful. For now, school is only in person two days a week, but I hope we will get more days in the coming months. The pandemic was hard on all of us, but particularly hard on kiddos with special needs. I am praying for a blue wave to engulf our nation early next month, new leadership to step in and guide us through and out of this pandemic. If you have not done it already, get out and vote! Boo has cast his ballot. Have you cast yours?
Harriet's Hedgehogs and Autism Advocacy 