Psychological Help and Autism

I wonder if Bil heard the same thunder that we heard here in our upstate New York home yesterday.  I know people 60 miles from us heard it.

He's so scared of thunder.  He's so scared of so many things.

I don't know what the early thunder will mean.  There is a lot of folklore about there about thunder before leaves are growing out on the trees.  What I do know is what thunder means to Bil.  He is deathly afraid of thunder - in fact he is somewhat scared of just regular rain.  One time he wouldn't come up here when a family member was ailing, because he would not travel in the rain.

But this is the price we pay for our mild winter.  And one thing the mild winter has meant is that my mother in law hasn't lost power.  That happened both last winter and this summer (one time for about 4 days) - actually, twice this summer.

But Bil has dreaded storms long before the time when power failures lasted for days. (that didn't seem to happen in his childhood.)

I sometimes wonder if there is some kind of psychological help out there for Bil and his fears.  I don't know how talk therapy would work with a person who has severe communication impairments.  He is verbal, but can barely put two sentences together.

How does that work?

His thought processes are so foreign to me.  But the pain of his fears is real, and I wish there was help out there for him.  It might be something for me to try to investigate.

It's Been Such a Long Time....

Where have I been?

I wish I could say I've spent the time since the last time I posted working 24/7 for Bil's advocacy.
Truth is, I havec made some progress, but so much work remains to be done.  But the good news out of this is that I seem to have developed a good working relationship with Bil's MSC (Medicaid Service Coordinator).  She is actively taking an interest with Bil, trying to gain his trust, and even suggesting a service that might assist him.

I don't know if she will be able to get that service (budget cuts) but if she can, I think it would really benefit Bil and increase his independence.

Housing? No progress.

And with budget cuts....I fear there won't be any.

I hope that my husband and I can meet this MSC in the next few months.  When you've met someone, it's different (to me anyway) than just communicating by email.  You put a face with a name.

Let's see what happens.