When a Simple Physical Isn’t So Simple

As always, my hope is to keep it real, spread acceptance and potentially help another family. I hope you take the time to read this, especially if you have children that play sports and are lucky enough that they’re typical.

Dylan had the opportunity to go watch his friend Peter play volleyball through the special Olympics recently. I never signed Dylan up for any sport through the Special Olympics because I really didn’t think it was something he would want to do, and honestly, when he lived at home, I just did not have the energy to deal with it.

To make this long story shorter, the volleyball went well so I decided to sign Dylan up for bocce and cornhole. The thought of Dylan in a cornhole or bocce league really makes me laugh. But, this isn’t a funny story.

A physical is needed to participate in the Special Olympics. While a physical may not seem like a big feat—let me tell you—for my 24-year-old Autistic son that is 6 '2 and, as I just found out, over 250 pounds, it is.

I honestly reached out to over 10 people asking if they could help me. I texted friends that are doctors, people that own clinics, his neurologist…a lot of the people I asked didn't even answer me or said no.

Dylan is not always easy to handle, and I just had a feeling that this wasn’t going to go well.

I finally settled on taking him to a nurse practitioner at a local healthcare facility and secured an appointment for the same day. I honestly thought that I did everything right.

The best plans, right?

Well with Autism, they are the best plans until they are not.

Dylan was very agitated from the second he was dropped off to meet me. I arranged for a caregiver to come to help me, but Dylan was absolutely not having it. Seeing the caregiver made him so upset that I asked him to wait in the car.

I can handle all of the people that stared at me in the waiting room as we were waiting to be called back. Dylan was loud and asking for Chipotle—he didn’t understand. 

The nurse practitioner we saw was fantastic as well as the other staff. They even called additional team members in because Dylan was screaming so loud. This story is not about me, but he was so upset that he hit me three times with the full force of a grown man.

I’m not embarrassed to say that I was crying by the time the nurse practitioner came into the room. Trust me—I have been through more situations like this than I care to remember, but I am not going to lie: it really hurt. I also was so frustrated that at 24 years old, there aren’t more options for a young man with severe autism to receive care as basic as a physical.