Why are waiting rooms so quiet? Nobody really talks to each other and if you do talk it seems like everyone else kind of stares at you. A few months ago I was in a doctor's waiting room with Dominic. When we first walked in it was very quiet and about half the people kind of looked over at us. I guess it was because I had a child with me. The median age of the people in this waiting room was about 65. After we had been waiting a little bit, Dominic started talking really loud. I tried to shush him, but that attracted even more attention. When you are waiting in a doctor's office, it would be kind of awkward to strike up a conversation. You can't really ask the person next to you, "so, what are you here for?" One thing I've learned about doctor's waiting rooms is to bring your own reading material!! I was in my cardiologist's office a few weeks ago and there was a husband and wife waiting to see the doctor. The husband said quite loudly, "these magazines here are 12 years old!!" I was going to offer the guy part of my newspaper to read, but then the nurse called me in. What's the worst is if you are in a waiting room that has no reading material and you didn't bring anything. Yikes!! Where do you look? At the person across from you in the chair?? The orthodontist's office where Lauren is being treated has the best waiting room ever! They have all of the most recent issues of my favorite magazines AND a television! An added bonus are the wonderful ladies that work the front desk. They are so polite and friendly! The next time you are in a waiting room, take a look around. Do most people have something to read? are they talking? texting? or are they staring into space??
When Dominic was diagnosed with Autism at 2 1/2, I went to our local library and took out every book I could find about Autism. Sometimes I would bring back 20 books. This was 2006, so a lot of the information was very "dated." I guess I was looking for a book that would tell me what I should do next, like a "manual." Autism doesn't quite work that way! The saying is, " if you know one person with Autism, you know one person with Autism." Every mom to an individual with Autism follows their own "path." I think as moms, we judge ourselves much harder than anyone else does. I was 41 when I had Dominic. Did he get the diagnosis of Autism because I was an older mom? because I drank a lot of pop? I could sit and think about that every minute of every day. I am pretty integrated into the Autism community around Lansing and have told more than one person that it took me about two weeks to come to terms with Dominic's diagnosis. It is so incredib...
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