Funny conversation at doctor's office

[Gena]

DS had an appointment with his eye specialist this week. We've gone there for 7 years, but they are just now converting to electronic records, so the Medical Assistant (MA) and I had to review DS's entire history and make sure it was entered correctly into their new system. After what seemed like forever, we got down to the business of the current appointment.

MA: ...And what brings you in today?
Me: Regular 6 month visit.
MA: Right...have you noticed any changes in [DS's] vision?
Me: (short explanation of things we've noticed)
MA: OK (makes notes)...So, any current health concerns?
Me: What do you mean?
MA: Do you have any concerns about his health?
Me: Do you mean other than the autism, asthma, albinism, and chromosome abnormality?
MA: Yeah...we have all that in the record. I mean health problems: fever, rash, cough? Things like that.
Me: No. No health problems.
MA: (sincerely) Yeah, he seems like a healthy kid.

I was a little embarrassed because I'm always telling people that disabled does not equal sick. Sometimes I need that reminder myself!

When I told DH about this later, we both thought it was really funny. We told the story to some friends and they didn't get it. Maybe it's something that only parents of special needs kids can appreciate.

[sariana]

Yes, I think this is something those of us in the SN community are more likely to appreciate. Maybe that's because we're more likely to look for the humor amongst all the challenges?

How did his appointment go?

[pb&j]

DS had an appointment with his eye specialist this week. We've gone there for 7 years, but they are just now converting to electronic records, so the Medical Assistant (MA) and I had to review DS's entire history and make sure it was entered correctly into their new system. After what seemed like forever, we got down to the business of the current appointment.

MA: ...And what brings you in today?
Me: Regular 6 month visit.
MA: Right...have you noticed any changes in [DS's] vision?
Me: (short explanation of things we've noticed)
MA: OK (makes notes)...So, any current health concerns?
Me: What do you mean?
MA: Do you have any concerns about his health?
Me: Do you mean other than the autism, asthma, albinism, and chromosome abnormality?
MA: Yeah...we have all that in the record. I mean health problems: fever, rash, cough? Things like that.
Me: No. No health problems.
MA: (sincerely) Yeah, he seems like a healthy kid.

I was a little embarrassed because I'm always telling people that disabled does not equal sick. Sometimes I need that reminder myself!

When I told DH about this later, we both thought it was really funny. We told the story to some friends and they didn't get it. Maybe it's something that only parents of special needs kids can appreciate.

I had a conversation similar to this with the mom of a disabled child in DS's class - she was saying how glad he was he'd been healthy the past few months. And then said, "well, other than..." and rattled off all of his many issues. She was laughing by the time she finished the list.

[Gena]

Yes, I think this is something those of us in the SN community are more likely to appreciate. Maybe that's because we're more likely to look for the humor amongst all the challenges?

This is probably true.

How did his appointment go?

Thanks for asking!

It went really well. DS cooperated through most of it. He initially fought us when it was time to do the eye drops, but then let me hold him while the MA got them in. His best corrected vision is still between 20/40 and 20/50. There's still some wandering of the left eye, but he will probably always have that and it's not enough to need surgery. No change to his prescription, which I am very thankful for because DS's glasses are expensive. The issues we have noticed are most likely due to eye fatigue, so we need to make sure that school is providing his accommodations (colored overlays, protection from glare, uncluttered materials, frequent breaks, etc.). All in all, it was good news.

[Sweetum]

I am always stumped when they ask "health concerns", and I always start with "he has Autism", but yeah, I get it

[gatorsmom]

I get it. I've done the same thing before to the nurse assistant. It's like they are asking, "do you have any new serious condition to add to the list?" And I'm always glad to say, no, I haven't discovered one lately.