Vicki ...
Traffic on the Interstate Five corridor always seemed horrible, but having grown-up in the Seattle area, Victoria Glover recalled with a grimace, 'Fridays are truly their own special brand of hell on this strip of asphalt.' She was behind the wheel of her late model green and gray, Subaru Outback, headed south and in the middle of gridlocked traffic. It was late May and was promising to be a sunny weekend -- a pleasant change from the blustery, cold, and wet winter that'd finally released its relentless grip on the region a few days previous. Sitting behind the wheel, she tried to smile. The small station wagon wasn't the best looking by any means, but it was a trooper and was dependable. 'At least its paid-off and we're getting away for the weekend'. Casting a quick glance in the rearview mirror to see her son Danny in the back seat.
Glancing around at the many campers and cars towing camper trailers, it looked like many people had plans for getting into the outdoors this weekend. They were stuck in traffic as they headed south, to the Great Wolf Lodge, a vacation resort with a large indoor water park, near Chehalis, about an hour and a half south of their current location. Glowering as she shook her head to correct herself, 'Yeah, right! That would be a freaking miracle' she thought. Adding 'It's Friday, Vicki', which would likely extend that time to two-hours, at a minimum.
Known by Vicki to her family, friends, and those she helped, she was a mid-twenties, single mom who lived with her parents on Mercer Island, one of the upscale suburbs of the Emerald City of the Pacific Northwest. Her dad was a family practice attorney, who owned his own small law firm and employed her as a paralegal, specializing in educational litigation for kids with special needs. Glancing again into the fisheye rearview mirror to see her son secured in his booster seat, having a child with autism spectrum disorder along with a several other disabilities, had not only forced her to grow-up faster than she'd wanted to, but had opened her eyes to the grave disservice many children with disabilities experienced in obtaining an decent education.
Taking a deep breath and then slowly letting it out, she smiled and thought to herself, 'Change the attitude, Vicki. You're going to have fun', as the action helped to release the stress and negativity of the moment.
She was a natural, golden-haired blonde and people still described her appearance as angelic. At 5' 7", raising a highly intelligent and active young boy with disabilities had kept her on her toes and helped her to stay in decent shape. 'Not model perfect,' she thought, 'But still good looking.'
Thankfully, Danny's spirits were high, as she'd been preparing him for this trip for the past several days. Glancing in the rearview again at him, she smiled. He was the light of her life, and she loved him to death. His genes were a mish mash of hers and his father's. His medium height for his age and his build concealed the fact that he was quite strong. He had many of her facial features, with light skin, high cheek bones and thick, blonde hair. His bright blue eyes were magnified by the thick glasses he wore. When he was younger and not expressing many of the normal emotions a toddler would exhibit, she'd taken him to the doctor and discovered that fate had dealt him a shitty hand of cards.
Breathing another heavy sigh, she realized those conditions had helped to temper and strengthen not only him, but her as well.
With Danny having autism, briefings and preparation were something she'd gotten used to early on as a single parent. He was gesticulating with his hands, and making grunting and hooting sounds, as he sang along with the children's music that was being played over the speakers. They were on this weekend getaway for two compliments of a new soft rock station, and this was the closest thing to a vacation that she'd been able to enjoy since becoming a mom. She'd shown him pictures from the resort's web site and although he wouldn't be able to enjoy all the attractions, she knew he'd have fun because he was utterly fascinated the water. 'It's his form of stimming', she thought.
Most every autistic has some form of repetitive motion or action they use to calm themselves. Some spun plates or coins on end, others loved to turn lights on and off. Danny loved the water. He'd fill a sink and stand there to watch it drain or he would splash his hand in it. It was the circular motion that helped to calm him. Smiling at the memory that his stimming had caused a few problems at first, but she and her parents through patient persistence had helped to teach him about how much water he could allow in the sink.
He'd been born a few weeks after her high school graduation. Being eighteen during her senior year, a date for her homecoming the previous fall had gotten seriously out of control and the asshole she'd been going with had convinced her to have sex with him and had not only stolen her virginity but gotten her pregnant. She'd been the captain of the cheerleading squad and he a member of the varsity football team. When she found out that she was expecting, the son of bitch attempted to disavow all knowledge of her and her father, to quote "The Godfather," had made him and his parents an offer they couldn't refuse, concerning support.
Being pregnant during her last year in high school had forced her to grow-up faster than she'd ever wanted to. She'd lost many of her friends and she remembered many of the snide remarks that had been cast her way, behind her back. Hurtful words like 'Slut' and 'Bimbo' along with the hormonal hell pregnancy played on her young body bruised her ego, but never dampened her spirit.
She'd dreamed of becoming a lawyer and following in her dad's footsteps; however, raising a boy with significant special needs made fulfilling that aspiration a difficult undertaking. Instead of becoming a full-fledged lawyer, she settled for becoming a para and she found it was very rewarding work, as she felt she was truly helping people, many of whom who were like herself concerning the special needs of their child's education -- completely clueless, bewildered or lost when the dreadful diagnosis had been made. Now, pleasantly smiling as she looked at the traffic around her in the stop and go mess as she crept through Tacoma, she reflected on the fact she'd accomplished much in a brief time. Her mom had helped by caring for Danny while she attended distant learning classes over the internet, completed her assignments and drafted her papers. Her dad had provided a critical eye and helped her by providing advice on how to edit her assignments. His tough love had helped her achieve high marks and graduate at the top of her class.
Balancing the responsibilities of single parenthood and preparing for a career that would hopefully help her son, had helped to show how self-absorbed many of the so-called friends she had from high school were. In the few moments of free time she had, she tried to learn as much as she could about her son's conditions and in doing so, learned that many parents struggled to get the education their special needs kids deserved from the school districts they were a part of. That disparity had prompted her to approach her dad after graduating with her Bachelor of Science degree and asked if she could serve as the paralegal for his practice and help him litigate these cases.
In the year and a half, she'd been doing this, they'd won several significant cases against local school districts, and she was quickly establishing a name and credit for herself, as an advocate for those with special needs. She'd even been asked by an advocacy group to speak on the subject, at a recent conference, held over the internet.
