Voc Rehab Appointment

  The day got off to a bad start.
  i forgot
last night to walk Max through the details of what to expect.  Not that i knew them all, but i did know he should've been walked over them before bed last night, not earlier in the day only.  And i got the time wrong by a half hour - later than it actually was.
  In collecting the trash, i found his shredded bowling bag.  Probably shouldn't have mentioned it to him, but, well, it's a Mom-thing.
  And the shirt he had on at first, unacceptable.  i reminded him about the VocRehab appointment, let him know we'd be leaving at 6:30 instead of 7, and asked him to put on a polo shirt.  Do you want help selecting one?  No.
  Not a polo shirt.  A nice train shirt, no holes or stains yet, but too short.

Nope, not going.

  PBS has one of his favorite shows on at 6:30.  Max got into one of his famous refusals.  Cyberchase is a great science and math show, but we can't always watch TV when the favorite show comes on.  i could've offered to record it for him, but honestly, i wasn't in the mood.  If he'd ever watched a show thus recorded, if it had ever made a difference in getting ready to get out the door, i would have, really, but for something that experience indicates would be ignored, that would only complicate my morning and not improve his, no.
  MyGuy (thank you!) was going in to work late to help me, but we have different approaches to this.  We know that we have to wait him out, but i only give him a few minutes, then turn off the TV.  MyGuy waits until Max is ready.
  Good thing we had separate cars.  Me & the paperwork went on ahead.

Now where is this?

  Now that i've seen the place in the light of day, it seems so simple.  And why didn't i do a "dry run" earlier in the week?
  At 7am, it was dark.  i drove all over the complex before deciding that VocRehab must be in the building with suites numbered one hundred-something, etc.  So Suite 100 must be around the corner from 105, right?
  There's no parking around the corner from 105.
  So i parked at 105 and walked to every door all around the place.
  Suite 100 would've been closer if i'd started the other way around.
  Just as i found the door, MyGuy and Max drove up.  They parked next to me, even though i hollered that over here was the right place.  Once inside, it took 10 minutes to get anyone to come to the window (15 minutes late by now), and no, don't move your car.  Our neighbors will understand.

How Max Handled It

  First off, the longer we stayed, the more agitated Max became.  Looking at his TV schedule, i can see why.

 Did i mention that Max is extremely conscious of time and space?

With Our Counselor

  i won't be able to be extremely detailed here.  Our one hour appointment was actually about 40 minutes, through no one's particular fault, just the way things are.  Max was there longer than he could really handle - he was banging walls and out the door before we finished the amenities with the counselor.
  But Max did start off calmly.  The counselor appreciated the paperwork i did bring, which was not as complete as i'd thought.  He especially liked the Confirmation of Disability (not specifically asked for), signed by Max's psychologist within the past month or two.  i brought over a couple of other documents later in the morning.
  But frankly Max's case kinda stumps our counselor.  He doesn't hold out much, if any, hope for regular employment, encourages us to move along with selling that Disney stock so we can get Medicaid & waiver services to get into day services & sheltered employment for him.  (And i really appreciated having someone else saying we absolutely need to sell it, and why.  Plus the support that guardianship is a good idea.)
  Not that the counselor isn't going to work for Max.  He diligently went through the paperwork i brought, and talked about consulting his (counselor's!) peers, & read highlighted parts of the brochure that he gave us.
  But Max's preferred jobs simply are not available now. Building boxes - employers have students & volunteers do that.  They don't spend even reduced wages on that sort of thing.
  Max will need not only the right job, but also an understanding employer.  And THOSE are even harder to come by.
  Oh, and the neighbors did NOT understand.  They were ready to have both cars towed.  i referred them to VocRehab office.

More Waiting

  And i get to wait for another phone call - this one about where & when to bring Max for assessment/testing.
  Such is our life in the wonder-full corner of the world.