disclosure

Christine brings up a good question: did I tell them at the hospital about Henry's autism?

It came up a couple times- first, when we were in the "triage" area, the nurse was putting info in the computer, and asked if he had been to Children's before. I said yes, that he had been evaluated in the autism clinic. She found him in the computer and continued with taking his temp, etc. She asked if he was diagnosed with autism and explained that she works with autistic kids. I answered "yes- PDD." But that was the extent of the discussion. Come to think of it, I wonder if she noted that on his paperwork? I kind of doubt it- she didn't seem to think it was a big deal.

Later, when the paramedics were attempting to take blood and insert the IV, it came up. I forget why exactly, but I think I was telling him he did a good job using his words, and then explained "he has an autism spectrum disorder and it's hard for him to communicate sometimes." The nurse who was holding him looked surprised and asked "he's autistic?" And then kind of shrugged- I'm sure because he was communicating pretty well with her!

It's interesting, in retrospect, that I didn't feel compelled to tell everyone we came into contact with about his autism. I know that it affected how he reacted to the situations, but I also know that many other non-autistic children would have reacted the same way, or even more violently.

Maybe because I was with him the whole time. If I had needed to leave him alone with a medical person it probably would have been important to explain some of his "issues". But hey, all kids have issues, especially at the emergency room!