Helpful Stranger

Yesterday we had to take our two foster dogs to a vet clinic near our house. The female dog has a home, most likely, and the family is anxious to have her move in, we just needed to check all the vetting boxes. The vet who spayed and neutered the dogs did not test for heartworm and so this is how we ended up at the clinic near our house. We had plans to be in this particular shop because Love Bug won a gold fish at the school carnival and rather than have live fish there, they gave away coupons. So, we bought the fish earlier and returned with the dogs. I wanted to be first in line because we were going to the minor league baseball game with CHOR which started as the same time as the clinic. The kids were a little rammy and I got irritated because my grandmother called me, and she never calls me. Wrangling two kids and two dogs was next to impossible while trying to hold a conversation with my Nana. At one point, the man waiting next in line behind us, commented that Love Bug "couldn't help it" when he stomped on my foot for the third time and I was terse with him. I said, he could stop stomping on my toes and thought the man would back off and leave us alone. I guess I'm too used to judgmental people seeing me and my kids and thinking they could do it better. Anyway, after I ended the brief conversation with my grandmother, the man watched Love Bug stacking the dog food cans as high as he could, then looked at me and asked, " He's autistic isn't he?" I was totally taken aback. I had no idea what he saw that made him think he could guess Love Bug was being evaluated for that very same diagnosis. I signed and hesitantly answered, "He's being evaluated to see if he's on the spectrum." The man nodded sagely and said, "Yes, he is. I can tell because I'm autistic." I was surprised by his admission and softened my defensive walls slightly. As we tried to talk over a rambunctious Love Bug and attention-seeking Chica Marie, the stranger talked to me about getting a neuropsych eval for Love Bug. I confessed his current mental health professional was pushing for him to get on meds and the kindly cat-owner cautioned against meds for autism. He told me medication only worked for 40% of people with ASD. He recommended getting some type of DNA testing done to see what meds might help Love Bug (it had a name, but I can't remember it). He himself uses Prozac and a vitamin that helps him sleep. Our new friend reluctantly shared his phone number with me, so I could ask him via text the name of the things he mentioned to me. He also gave me a business card for a lawyer advocate and the number for a psychologist who could perform a neuropsych eval. We managed to not only get the dogs taken care of, but found invaluable advise for which I am most grateful.

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