“If I had the power to change things, I would make sure that every parent, after receiving a diagnosis from a doctor, walks out of the doctor’s office and, in the hallway, meets Andreja.
So they know that Andreja exists.
So they know there is someone who can help them. Because if anyone needs support in those days, it is certainly the parent — the child is still the same, their child, just as they were yesterday.
In the days that follow, sooner or later, when everything that can hurt, hurts, a question arises: “What now?”
It’s not just a question — it’s the Himalayas. And your legs are shaking. And everyone is shouting “early intervention,” and you want to start immediately, if only you knew where. Where do you even begin?
If they didn’t meet her in that hallway — and if I had the power to change things — I would make sure that every parent finds out about Andreja then.
So they know they truly can start right away. So they understand that they, just like the parent of a typically developing child, are the most important person in their child’s development. So they understand why, and how, and feel free to ask anything — and receive answers.
If a parent has a child who is already 11 years old, like I do — and if I had the power to change things — I would make sure they find out about Andreja immediately. So they know it is always possible to begin, and that it is not too late (and they will also learn why that is true).
And as for me (as I said at the end of the meeting today): no matter what kind of mood I am in, once the meeting begins, a feeling appears and stays until the end — that this is the only place in the world where I need and want to be in that moment.”
T.J.

