My Posse of Ph.D.s

You know you’re the parent of a special needs child when you discover you have a personal relationship with the experts at a medical conference.

I had stumbled upon the AD/HD conference in my area in the local paper and knew I had to go. I checked out the local CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) website (www.chaddmi.com), downloaded the schedule and laughed at what I found: not one, but two of Max’s therapists were speaking at the conference: Dr. S., who co-led the social language classes Max took last year, and Dr.I., Max’s current psychologist and the man to whom I owe my sanity.

I was interested in attending their panels but then thought better of it. What was I going to learn in a 90-minute lecture that I couldn’t (or hadn’t already) after a year – and thousands of dollars – of one-on-one therapy sessions? I love Dr. S. and Dr. I. but I already have their expertise on my speed-dial. So I checked off the little boxes of some other experts who were leading sessions I thought would be most helpful.

Is it weird that I feel like I’m cheating on them?