Carousel of Progress

We've been toying with the idea of taking the kids to Disney World.  It's a scary thought, considering Cade barely made it though two days of Dollywood.  But Eric and I both love DW and we have been talking about how to make it a fun, s-l-o-w trip for the boys.  We have settled on next January, so that gives us plenty of time to plan.  We also found out that DW offers help for kids with autistic spectrum disorders/sensory processing disorders, so that helped make our decision.

In thinking about all of this it reminded me of the attraction at the Magic Kingdom called the "Carousel of Progress."  It's basically a huge round moving theater where the audience sees how progress in technology has been made through the years.  I think it was one of Walt Disney's first attractions at a World's Fair somewhere (my Disney history is a little rusty!), and it is very well done.  It has a very catchy, and addicting, theme song that is sung throughout the attraction...one that is sung by certain members of my family for months after a trip (and they even randomly break out in a rendition every now and then...).

Anyway, that ride reminds me of our journey with Cade.  SPD/ASD is truly a carousel of progress.  With each new technological invention to "better" our lives comes trials.  It is better in the long run (usually!) but we always have to work through the "kinks" to get to the best product.  The same is true with Cade's therapy.  With each new advancement a new issue comes up.  It isn't really worse, just different.  And so we spend more time to help "better" his life and work out the kinks, only to have a new trial come up.

I imagine it will always be like this, at least in these beginning stages of helping him.  Just like when the new stove was invented or refrigerators or air conditioning (Thank you, Lord!!) and they were sparkly and bright but had problems, people would work out the kinks to have the new product because it was worth it!!  This is something I continue to remind myself after a tough month like this one...we are doing all of this because it is worth it!! 

I hope that I can write all about our fabulous family trip next January and post pictures of my 2 little boys having the time of their lives.  I suspect that will come only with lots of patience, quiet time, and a bit of resistance on their parents' part to get it all in.  But whatever the outcome I know that it will certainly be a trip noteworthy of remembering, and hopefully one day one of looking back to see just how far we have come.