The Money Tree Died In The Drought
As I
stated before, the money fairy or the money tree does not just automatically
exist in my home just because my son was born with a disability and developed
autism. It just doesn’t work that way no
matter what it appears that other assholes believe. I’ll clue you in here to what I’m talking
about with a few stories.
I am in
the process of planning a trip on an airplane for the first time with my son in
a few months. This is for a very special
occasion that I just cannot miss. In
trying to prepare for this with my son I have consulted with many people trying
to gather ideas of how to make this tolerable for him and what tricks or tips
the professionals have to offer. To this
I got a response of “just take him on 4 or 5 practice flights before the actual
trip” so he can have his meltdowns on the ones that don’t matter and the
special trip will go smoothly. What
asshole? What are you thinking? Do I look like I have a personal jet in my
backyard? Do I look like someone that
recently won the lottery and can buy 4 or 5 airline tickets for 3 people just
to “practice” airplane rides with my son?
What do you think this is the trump mansion?
Once I
was talking about the air mattress in my sons room to a person affiliated with
his care. The conversation went on with
me explaining how I wish there were a better alternative and I hated to have
him just on a mattress on the floor.
This person then explained that it really wasn’t that big of deal at all
and that there are tons of companies out there they make fully enclosable
“safety” beds for autistic children and I could just buy one online and have it
delivered. Well, for once I was really
intrigued and went immediately home and began my own self expert google search
and that’s when I saw it. The grand
poo-pa of all safety beds. The king of
sleep and peace and quiet and insurer of calm sleep totally free of hazards and
injury all for the bargain basement price of $8,000.00. WHAT?
Are they out of their minds? Not
only is this thing 8 grand but I’m looking at it and already seeing the ways my
Houdini could escape it, get out of it or tear it apart! Eight Thousand Dollars! So I picture this woman’s face again when she
told me of this “no big deal; just order one online” deal and am thinking to myself
at this point “ok asshole, I don’t know what world you live in but around here,
8,000.00 is what you pay for a car………not a bed!” Oh wait a minute……….I’ll just consult the
money tree or the finance fairy and it’ll be fine. Hey wait a minute, I still have checks in the
checkbook. If you still have checks you
still have money, right? (calm down; I’m
joking)
Now that
we’re on to the topic of money and how it pertains to special needs children
and more particularly my son, let me pull out my little soap box……..arrgh,
ok. I am officially on it so brace
yourself, this could get ugly.
Wheelchairs; has anyone priced a
decent wheel chair lately? Or how about
those cool weighted blankets that children that crave texture and pressure
love? What about those special swings
for $1,500.00 guaranteed to delight your autistic child? What about just the cost of diapers large
enough to fit a growing teenage boy? How
about the floor I replace about every 3 months?
What about special toys with special features that you can’t get
anywhere but a special needs supplier?
All of them ridiculously high priced.
Hundreds and thousands of dollars for things that these kids; my son
really desperately could use and benefit from.
Special seat belt harnesses $220.00 to keep him from exiting the seat
and entering the floor of the vehicle.
Gigantic adult size car seats for proper safety traveling long distances
$4,000.00. Adult size strollers, $1800.00. You name it it’s in there but you better be
independently wealthy or have the most utopian insurance company out there in
the world if you want to get your hands on this stuff. So my question is this; What asshole decided to make bargain bin toys
and equipment to sell at walmart for every other normally physically advantaged
child but decided “oh those disabled children, they’re a pain in the ass, let’s
make them pay extra for everything they need.”
Graco baby stroller; $180.00.
Stroller for disabled child (way less advanced and luxurious;
$1,800.00. See my point? Who decided that disabled children were the
place to install price gouging tactics?
Even the guy that distributed this products and price catalog to the
school room full of these physically disabled children is an asshole!
I had a
specialist once recommend that I duplicate everything that was in the classroom
somewhere in my home. I agreed! I thought this was a really productive and
smart idea. This would help my son learn
the same skills at home as he is learning at school. Repetition and consistency
was my line of thinking and I was on the bandwagon with this one. Right up until I found out the cost of just a
few of the things I would need to purchase out of about 30. Yes, I could do this but then I’d have to
explain to my other children that they could not go to college, could not go to
prom, could not have dental work, could not eat food, and could not wear
clothing except out of the donation box down the street. Sure, no problem asshole……….I’ll just
duplicate it.
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