A Horse Named Molly

I'm in love with a horse named Molly. 

In the last three months, since Noah's diagnosis with Asperger's Syndrome, we've met with numerous doctors and therapists.  We've been in occupational therapy since his diagnosis and social skills therapy before his diagnosis, are still waiting to be approved for physical therapy and have been denied for speech therapy.  We're on a waiting list for a second opinion (routine stuff), we're fighting with insurance over the speech therapy denial and are exploring other avenues of help for our son. We've pulled him from private school and begun homeschooling him.  We have read every resource we can get our hands on and picked the brains of everyone we can find.

We want to see improvements, we want to see something worth getting excited about.  Instead, we see more setbacks, more frustrations and no improvements.  We haven't dared to get excited about anything.

--UNTIL TODAY--

Noah had his first therapeutic horseback riding lesson today.  With all due respect to my husband (who is a really great dad), Shawn has not been able to get himself worked up about trying this latest avenue for Noah (he freely admits this).  He had to take Noah this morning because I had a doctor's appointment that conflicted with the timing of Noah's lesson.  It was the best thing that could have happened!   The excitement in my husband's voice and the look on his face are things I can't convey in writing, but it was amazing!  Both Shawn and Noah were so animated about it!  And the change in Noah today has been astonishing.  We did not have a single problem with him all day long.  He was calm, he followed directions, he listened, he didn't have a problem settling down for schoolwork, he played with Avery and was just a completely different child the rest of the day.  He was happy and agreeable.  He was able to stay on task and concentrate.  He even reacted quickly, when, unbeknownst to either of us, Avery had wandered behind Shawn's car as he was backing out of the garage.  Normally, Noah doesn't react to these sorts of emergencies.  Today, Noah grabbed his brother right out of danger in the nick of time, yelling to Shawn at the same time so Shawn was able to react in time.  Monday nights are usually interesting for Noah; a friend of mine comes over with her two boys for dinner and Noah acts like a wild man.  Tonight, he was calm and relatively collected.  He played an entire board game with his friends without trying to change the rules to suit himself, without a temper tantrum, without giving up halfway through and remaining relatively calm but having fun.  Shawn and I couldn't believe what we were watching.  Was this really our Noah?  Is it possible that we have finally found the 'magic button' for Noah?  Do we dare get our hopes up and get excited about this after only one lesson?  We desperately want to, myself especially.  Seeing how excited Shawn is (the man who refuses to get excited about anything), it's difficult for me to not get excited.  Shawn said Noah looked like a natural sitting on Molly.  Have we finally found something that Noah is naturally good at, something he will thrive in, something he loves and enjoys?

We found this equine therapy center through a friend at our church, who is an instructor there and is now Noah's instructor there as well.  I emailed her on a whim, knowing she rides horses, wondering if she knew of anyplace nearby that had a therapeutic facility.  I had no idea she's an instructor.  Not only is she an instructor, she's a teacher with a special education background.  We found out that after I submitted Noah's application, the waiting list jumped to 120 applicants. It's all fallen into place so easily. I have to believe that God led us here.  This is where God wants Noah to be, this is where things are going to happen for him.  I have to believe this is our chance at hope for our son.

Thank you, Molly.  Keep up the good work!