SPD Symposium Wrap Up (3 of 3)

Dr. Lucy Jane Miller PhD, OTR/L signing books.

If you haven't red the first two posts, I encourage you to start there -- they are below this one.

5:30am hit again.

This time, I was not so eager to get out of bed. I was plotting in my head how to sneak out of the conference to take a nap. Logistically, that was harder than getting my three kids to three different schools every day, so it didn’t happen.

But as I squished my now bruised feet back into my heels for a third day, I did have one plan: Find time to talk with Dr. Miller.

I arrived at the hotel once again and was greeted by the now highly anticipated breakfast buffet, which I supplemented with some hot tea and honey. I was tired, my throat was scratchy (from talking too much, I know, you’re shocked) and I was afraid that the lack of sleep was catching up with me by way of a cold. But, this day had some great speakers, and I wasn't going to miss them!

Standing room only for Dr. Stobbe's talk -- first
time I had heard someone talk about development
over the life span that actually applied to my son.

I listened to Dr. Gary Stobbe’s lecture on Autism and Sensory issues across the lifespan – and I have to say it was so incredibly nice to hear someone talk about life as a whole. Not just the transition times: Preschool, high school, adult hood – but to talk about my child as a whole being. It was wonderful, and he had a PACKED house. Dr. Stobbe has a charming way about him, he speaks with true heart and an obvious understanding of those he works with. He told many anecdotal stories, but my favorite was a local 16 year old with Aspergers who is interviewing colleges. This young man’s mother was talking on the phone with a representative from MIT, and she felt that she needed to be honest about her son’s diagnosis so that they knew what to expect, “My son has Aspergers, so I would need to know you can accommodate that.” To which the man at MIT laughed out loud and said, “So does half my department!”  Now I know where to send Matthew.

SPD Symposium Wrap Up (2 of 3)

Award Winners with Dr. Miller  (L to R):  Lori Frankhanel,
Lucy Miller PhD, OTR/L, Diana Henry OTR/L, and Barry Stein, PhD.
Thanks to Brian Mengini for the photo!

If you didn't read yesterday's post, start there -- it is below this post and can be found by clicking here.

5:30am Saturday

No cooking = AWESOME.

I was up and off again! One of the coolest things about the three days away from the house was not having to cook. I know, that seems trivial or even cliché, but walking into that hotel to find a beautiful spread of fresh fruit, pastries and these adorable little yogurt/granola and fruit parfaits had me considering a permanent move. They were amazingly tasty!

The conference was at capacity: Over 350 attendees in a packed ballroom. And the coolest part of Saturday morning, was having Dr. Lucy Jane Miller speak.

If you haven’t seen her, I highly recommend you do. She is incredibly easy to listen to, a great and exceedingly rare combination of mastery of information and personable delivery. The audience laughed and related to her immediately. Someone I aim to model my talks after.

Saturday’s full house lecture favorites included Dr. Stephen Glass, Seattle based Neurologist, as well as Diana Henry, OTR/L.

Diana and Lori

Another highlight was the awards that the SPD Foundation gives out – Lori Frankhanel from SPD Canada won for the Advocate of the year! Give her a shoutout on Facebook and big congrats! And did I mention how incredibly sweet and down-to-earth Lori is? A true pleasure getting to know her!

But, by far the most incredible thing from all of Saturday was having the opportunity to speak to the group (yes, all 350+ people, and no panic attack) about my 30 SPD Stories in 30 Days Awareness Event and Fundraiser and present the check directly to Dr. Lucy Miller. WOW.

Seriously, WOW!

SPD Symposium Wrap Up (1 of 3)

Marla, Hartley (I hate this photo of me...), Katy and Carrie
Special thanks to Brian Mengini for the photo!

 

Last weekend was an incredible whirlwind of fun, excitement, education, laughter and connection. I cannot do it justice in one blog post, so I am breaking this down into 3 parts.

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I got up at the crack of dawn on Friday morning, close to 5:00am. For the record, this is too early for me. I am not a morning person. BUT, on this day, I was.

I was happily the first out of bed, and showered in near darkness while my husband slept. I had this strange little twinge of working-mommy confidence. The roles were reversed. And I liked it.

After dressing in clean and nice clothes (an oddity after being a SAHM for so long), and packing the last of my toiletries for the 30 minute drive to the conference (yes, I stayed in a hotel), I woke my husband.

“Jeff” I whispered, “Jeff, can you help me carry these things downstairs?” I asked. I really just wanted him to get up and say goodbye to me. Selfish, I know.

He got out of bed, and grabbed my suitcase, while I listed the other things in the house that needed to go in the trunk too: My box of books, the crate of giveaway items, the flyers for the SPD Parent Dinner and of course, a 12 pack of Diet Pepsi for the hotel-room fridge.

He obliged.

I made it downstairs, grabbed my purse, my camera, and walked to the car. It was parked in the driveway, with the trunk open so I could reach in for a cold Diet Pepsi. I took two. I stood there in the dark driveway, in heels and my coat, hands full and looked at my husband standing in his sweats on the porch.

And I had a panic attack.

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