My Husband, Thank You for your Sacrifice
I am thankful for my husband Steve.
We’ve had an amazing journey thus far. November 27th will be our families Autism anniversary. The day one of our twin boys, Maverick, was diagnosed.
At the time of Maverick’s diagnosis, we were living in central Washington. A peaceful, rural area, filled with apple orchards and wineries. A beautiful place to raise a family, just maybe not our family.
Acquiring services in an underserved area is difficult. Maverick was receiving early intervention services through a local organization. It consisted of two speech therapy services a month and two occupational therapy services a month.
I asked, begged, and finally pleaded for more appointments, additional services, but I always was told no, this is all they had to offer our son. I didn’t really know early on that the services we were receiving may not be enough for our son.
To be honest I didn’t really know autism was a possibility until I asked our pediatrician why they were sending us to Seattle for this evaluation with a developmental pediatrician? It seemed everyone knew but me.
Steve and I decided to get Maverick private therapy. I found an amazing woman, who lead me to a therapist that was finishing her prerequisites to become a BCBA. It seemed like the perfect fit. She needed hours and our son needed help.
She worked with Maverick in our home 3-5 days a week from October before he was diagnosed until February. She helped him and us immensely.
In January, Maverick’s therapist came to us to tell us she would be taking a full time position with the school district. It was a shock, but there was always part of me that knew that our time with her was limited. She needed to help other children and I knew our son couldn’t be her only client.
Steve and I had several long, exhausting conversations about what we were going to do to help our son the best way we possibly could. I was searching locally, and wasn’t able to find any resources that would give our son the therapy hours that were recommended for him. We saw the benefits and the growth our son was making with consistent therapy, we knew we needed to continue to do this for his well being, and for ours.
Steve and I decided that the only option was we needed to move to an area that could offer better more consistent services for Maverick. The only problem was, our dental practice, our home, and our lives were located in that rural underserved community where we were living.
In April, my twin boys and I moved to a suburb of Seattle. I found an amazing intensive therapy preschool for our son. He also receives speech, occupational, and physical therapy at this facility. All of the therapies are multiple times a week rather than monthly like we were receiving in our home town.
The only problem is Steve is still working and living in our small rural town during the week. None of this could be possible if it wasn’t for Steve’s commitment to our family. I hate to even think where Maverick might be if we hadn’t been fortunate enough to make this move.
The reason I’m so thankful for him is, he is sacrificing time with his family and his wife for the betterment of our son.
It’s been hard…really hard, on all of us.
Maverick isn’t really able to verbalize missing his father, but his twin brother definitely can. It’s hard to be a “single” parent during the week to twin boys, in an unfamiliar place where we don’t have outside help. I know we’re all struggling through this, but my husband has it the hardest.
He’s missing beautiful, amazing pieces of their childhood. He’s also missing the struggles, the meltdowns and the vital information from his therapists.
I know we will make it through this, and we will all be stronger for it, but I can’t help but wonder what is this doing to our family in the meantime?
Our house is on the market and we’re hopeful we may have found someone to purchase our dental practice. We’re moving forward and taking the steps necessary so we can all be reunited and living under the same roof someday soon.
I am very thankful and grateful to have such an amazing father for our sons. The sacrifices he’s made I will forever be grateful for, and I know Maverick will to.
Written by, Corie Vitkovic
My name is Corie, I worked as a general dentist for 10 years before becoming a full time mom to my 3 year old twin boys, Finnegan and Maverick. I’m originally from Chicago, but now reside in the Seattle area. I’m working harder now as an advocate for my boys and my family than I ever did as a dentist, and I think I may even be scarier now. Never underestimate the power of an autism mom.
(Editor’s Note: This article was provided by Corie Vitkovic and is part of Cooper’s, ‘I’m Thankful For You’ Campaign.)
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