One of the 1st Encounter

So much has happened today. It has both been a productive and ironically a bit unpleasant one at the same time. I guess it come with the package of being a mom of a child with special needs.

best camera shot of Eli's doctor's certificate 

This morning, I took Eli with me at the DSWD office to claim his Person With Disability (PWD) ID . When we entered the office and told the guy at the desk of our purpose of coming. He handed me a form to fill out and asked for the doctor's certificate. i handed him his request and began granting his request.

As I was filling the form out, there was a part where you have to check the box as to what kind of disability the ID owner has. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was not written in one of the selections and I find that all disability selection that are written there are not applicable to Eli, so I didn't check any. 

After I handed back the form, the guy began to re-check on it and when he saw the part I did not answer, he just went on to check the box that says "Learning Disability." I thought, "Hey what the heck! My child is trainable! He might be frustrated and non-verbal for now but he is the smartest kid I know in person! His learning ability is beyond his years, he reads words even better like a six year old can when they begin to read. Just because my son has physiological disorder he is already considered having a Learning Disability? What the! He didn't even ask me so my son could be properly labeled on his identification card."

I was not able to say much about it I guess, I was at a loss for words. Things happened so fast before I knew it, he was informing me that the ID can be claimed next week on Monday or Tuesday, that's it bye-bye! 

While heading to our next appointment, I thought to myself  I swear if I will see learning disability on Eli's card next week as his label for being a PWD, I will have the guy change it to the proper diagnosis which is Autism Spectrum Disorder, and demand to put it there just like what was written in this certificate! Or else I will erase it myself, I know how to buy a correction fluid and will not be afraid to use it!

It's sad how children with special needs are considered by those who are deemed normal. I guess people need to do their research. I guess this is just the beginning of one of my first encounter with such people who may treat my child differently in the future and I might not be able to stop it, but as a mother, I will as much as possible defend my child no matter what for as long as I can.