The Forgotten Child

Chapter 15, The Forgotten Child

Chapter Fifteen

"You need a spare room that's quiet for therapy. A room to put all the teaching supplies and toys you use only for therapy," Pam, a tall thin lady and mother to a fourteen-year-old autistic boy, said. She'd driven down from Olympia.

"We have lots of room here." Brad had been polite, and maybe a little taken back by this woman who headed the local parents' group. She'd already arranged for her consultant to visit Trevor, to assess and set up programming. She was a doer who could set your head spinning for what she'd accomplish in five minutes.

"Brad, what about the bedroom at the end of the hall upstairs. The one filled with boxes and furniture." A dark shadow fell over his face, his eyes flinched and took on a hardness Emily hadn't seen before.

Emily poked around in there the other day and came across some extremely fashionable women's clothes, stacked high in the closet. A cedar chest tucked in the corner filled with baby clothes. "I'm sorry, if you'd rather that room not be used, I'm sure something else..."

He cut Emily off. "No. Use the room. I'll have Mac clear it out." He'd shut down and packed away the flash of fury she'd swear had reared its ugly little head. Maybe she imagined it.

Pam was looking at them in a way that said she, too, picked up on a problem. But to her credit, she dropped her eyes and started scribbling notes in her spiral-bound notebook. "When the consultant comes to visit, you'll want to have it sorted out. Also, line up some therapists. Tamara will start training after she assesses Trevor."

"But I haven't got a diagnosis for autism yet. Isn't all this a little premature?" Brad crossed his arms his face was all business.

"By the time you jump through all the hoops needed to get your kid diagnosed, you'll have wasted precious therapy time. The key is early intervention. The earlier Trevor starts, the best chance he has for a positive outcome. If it's about money..."

"No, we'll start. Money's not an issue if it's what's best for my boy. I'll pay. I don't care what it costs." And so they did. For the next two hours, Emily took notes, distracted the children, and started implementing all Pam's suggestions for help with Trevor.