A THREAD To Amuse You: Just got off phone w/my sweet momma. This afternoon,she came down from her office&heard my daddy just a-chatting away on the landline. So happy to have someone to play w/ I guess. As y'all probably know, I have a 30yo little bro w/ low-functioning autism. /

My brother takes several meds, a few of which are controlled substances managed by his developmental psych team. So today, the psychiatrist (one he's been seeing 2x/month since she joined the practice in Aug) called my parent's house and asked to speak to Mark. /

My dad replies 'This is he, what can I do for ya?' And the psychiatrist starts talking to him,asking a bunch of friendly small talk questions like how his Easter was,how he was coping w/quarantine, how was he spending his time,how many people are in his bubble,how are they doing/

And daddy was just gabbing away, so glad to have somebody, ANYbody to actually TALK to. My sweet momma works from home,but daddy is retired, so until 6p he is just bored bored bored.
So... after he's been having a very nice chat for almost an HOUR, answering her questions,/

The psychiatrist gets to asking about if he has been able to get groceries and other things he needs successfully, was he able to keep up with all his ADLs properly (hygiene, meals household chores, etc). Did he have a supporter to help process his feelings/fears/frustrations /

And right as she starts to ask if he's having any problems w/meds, daddy has an epiphany. And so he asks her: "Do you mean is Mark doing okay? My son?" And she says "Isn't *this* Mark?" And daddy says yes it is, Mark, Sr. She must have not noticed on chart his son is Mark II /

And the psychiatrist was totally gobsmacked. Daddy hadn't given it a thought when they were chatting, because he always does the talking at appointments, as my brother has very limited verbal skills that are often fractated and unintelligible unless you are around him 24/7. /

Dad proceeds to ask her, how in the world did she possibly think she was talking to my brother, the one she's seen 2x/month since August, the one who comes into her office & promptly rearranges all her pamphlet racks&snatches her Newton's cradle off her desk& shows his feathers/

And then asks what kind of vacuum cleaner she has at home, what model number is her dishwasher, does her plumbing have stoppers or flanges. Every. Time. (Which are only intelligible because of the repetition, you get bits and start to put them together.) Oh,&the whole time he's/

Rocking, twitching, rhythmically making a guttural hum w/vibrato, other types of stimming. He loses interest in almost anything after 6mins tops. Sure,she's got 100s of patients, but...Mark tends to leave an impression that sticks, once you've met him you're #MarkedForLife /

Doc was clearly thinking she was doing telemedicine. It'd be hilarious,but for glaring point that it took an hour to figure out she was 'examining' the WRONG person!(that could TALK)
Was she just saying to herself "Damn I'm good,that last regimen change is fire!" /

But anyway, hope this little anecdote can bring you as much smirky mirth as it gave me. We all need a laugh break right now. Now get back to washing your hands and #FlatteningtheCurve /END