So it turns out that maybe the insurance authorization hasn’t come through quite yet. Fine. Whatever, insurance.
But in the meantime, I found this post on Squidalicious, which expresses something I want very much not to lose sight of: kids need downtime. They need to be themselves, even if the rest of the world doesn’t get that.
Baguette needs the ABA she’s going to get. It will help her move more easily in the world. But 25 hours per week of anything is a lot, particularly at her age. I want to make sure that she gets time to work and play in her own comfort zone, too.
I struggle with this, and we don’t have any commitments like therapy! It is hard to find the balance between listening to what your kid wants to do and guiding her towards what you think she needs to do. I imagine it is even harder if your kid needs something special, like Baguette does.
I do think this is something that we all face as parents, regardless of our children’s needs. And after all, we need downtime as adults, too.
The importance of downtime is SO important, think about how much individuals on the spectrum are “on” or have to use brain power for tasks we take for granted as easy. Exhausting, indeed. I can tell you take good care of your little Baguette! <3
We’re doing our best–right now, I would really like her ABA to get started. But I’m very conscious that when it does, I’ll need to guard her downtime.
(ohslinks is me ps)