About "Almost Soon"

As I have helped my son, who has ASD and a developmental disability, to transition to his post-high school "grown-up life", and as we strive to find our way through the developmental services system, I have come to believe that I have knowledge and experiences that could help other parents. And since writing is one of the ways I make sense of the world, I figured this was the best way to share with others.

What You'll Find Here
I expect to blog some personal experiences/comments as well as practical suggestions. Since context is everything, please note:

• my focus is exclusively on transition-age youth and young (under 30) adults; I know nothing about services for older adults and very little about current services for children and youth
• I use the term "kid" to avoid saying "son/daughter" or "adult child" everywhere
• I live in east-end Toronto, so any mentions of agencies or programs may not be applicable to those in other parts of the city, province, or country 
• my son is verbal (although not always communicative), generally pleasant, and has few negatively-perceived behaviours; the content in this blog may, therefore, be less applicable to those with Aspergers/HFA, other developmental disabilities, or physical disabilities 

That said, I hope that much of what I post is useful for people in very different situations.

About the Name
My son likes everything to be sunny, everyone to be happy, and everything to happen when, where, and how he thinks it should. His attempt to deal with the disconnect between reality and his wishes is demonstrated in his language. A sick classmate was never absent but was "almost" back at school, a longed-for event is not a week or a month away, but "almost soon". It struck me that "almost soon" was an all-too-appropriate description of the mindset that leads me to postpone plans and actions, and to avoid facing hard realities.

About the Author
This blog is written by Laurie Pearce. Apologies for the vanilla blog design, but there's a good reason I make my living with words, not images. Also note that although I have been a volunteer for several Toronto-based organizations over the years, the views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own. I can be reached at almostsoon@gmail.com.