We always talked about putting a Go Pro on him just to see what he did during his adventures (never actually happened). But wouldn't it be fun to see? His meeting other dogs, sniffing, being pet by random people on the hiking trails, running from them as they tried to grab him and figure out where he belonged, swimming in the stream, chasing a rabbit, chasing a deer, carrying a deer leg found on the trail, marking HIS territory....etc, etc.
I feel the same way when Molly hops on the bus to leave for work. I have NO idea where she will be working that day and she can't tell me when she returns (and if I test her knowing where she went, she usually answers incorrectly). I love the texts that come through late afternoon that give me a little idea of what she did. Here is one that I got this summer:
"Molly was in my group today at Christmas Unlimited. In the morning she colored in the craft room and used her talker to tell me what she wanted for lunch. We went through the Burger King drive through on the way. While volunteering we kept it low key today and she unwrapped packages of ornaments. The client sitting next to her had a seizure but Molly stayed calm and continued working until things returned to normal. While the client was resting, I sat with Molly and she said "Yes" she needed a little break as well. We ate lunch in the break room then Molly used her talker to tell me she wanted to look at magazines and when I asked her where, she quickly navigated on her talker to "library". We went to the library where she picked out 2 magazines to look at. She seems to be doing a great job with her Metro ticket and keeps it safe with her lunch money."
The other big news in her life (and the next step towards more independence that took the awesome Manitou High School transition teams' nudging of ME to try it), is her taking Metro Mobility. I'm always the last on board to trust the community at large with my naive and vulnerable daughter. I always need others to say "it's going to be okay." So instead of the Manitou Springs special ed short bus picking Molly up and taking her to school/work like they have since she was 3 years old (17 years people!), Metro Mobility now picks her up, takes her to work and brings her home.
Every town has this service I imagine? My brother David, who lives with a traumatic brain injury in Charlottesville, Va, uses the bus service Jaunt. In Colorado Springs, it's called Metro Mobility. You call the service and let them know when you need them and they give you a half hour window for when they will pick you up. It's $3.50 each direction and you can pre fill a pass with $ that is scanned when you get on the bus, or use paper coupons that have been prepaid for (we have been nervous about Molly either shredding this ticket or throwing it into the recycle bin but neither has happened...yet). If you are non verbal like Molly, the driver knows where they are taking you since that was taken care of over the phone (by me). Others who are picked up along the route are going to a similar destination. Molly is picked up at 7:30 am for her 9 am arrival at work. In the school bus days, she was picked up 1/2 hour before her arrival at work time so Metro has increased her drive time by over 2 hours each day. Luckily, she LOVES to ride in cars/busses etc.
But here's where Nervous Nelly me has a hard time with this new process. So Molly gets done with work at 2 pm. She normally gets home between 2:45-3 pm. So I start looking out the window about 2:40. Yesterday was different. She wasn't home by 3 pm. I'm pacing by 3:15. I finally call Metro at 3:30 just to make sure Molly and her bus driver are alive and the kind receptionist tells me that there had been an accident on the highway that stopped traffic and there is more construction on the road near us that was delaying their return home. Whew. She was still alive and had not been kidnapped. I tell ya....my mind can do outrageous things! Then her bus pulled up, she hopped off, grabbed the mail, ran inside and started doing her clean up routine and all was good in the hood. She was totally fine so it's ME that needs to relax into the unknown, trust these new strangers to do their jobs and deliver her from point A to point B, know that I can't be coddled with calls from the driver (like the old short bus days as they knew I'd worry if she was later than normal), and give Molly that independence that I know she wants to help her feel like the 20 year old young lady that she is. Yeah, I know....it sounds so easy but she has NO idea how vulnerable she is ;)
I know you are thinking, wouldn't it be cool to stick a hidden camera on Molly to see what happens if we let her walk to the neighborhood playground by herself? We HAVE talked about doing this kind of thing just to see if she'd get in a car with a total stranger (that we had prearranged mind you) if she doesn't get nailed first by a driving car since she's still not 100% trustworthy crossing a street by herself. We could do an entire hidden camera Molly series to train all kinds of people: police, paramedics, waitresses, lifeguards etc. One of our checkout people at the grocery store still says the wrong thing every time Molly is with me in his line. It's gotten to the point that I just avoid his line as he never learns. "Are you at a yoga retreat in Manitou?" (he then imitates the sound that Molly is making and I tell him that actually "No, she has autism and can't talk. That is how she talks." Another time he said "What animal are you trying to be?" Yes, people say the darnedest things!! I wanted to say "I don't know what kind of animal she is but I'm a mamma bear who is going to hurt YOU!" But I didn't. I just avoid his line now.) Wouldn't a hidden camera series be interesting? Because even more than you...I'd love to see what happens when I'm not around.
