Touch Me With Secrets

Bonus Chapter II: Evaluation

We're in the doctor's office right now, and we're sitting with two other women. One is a bit older and the other is around my age.

"So, how are you today, Zain? My name is Michelle, and I'll be hanging with you for a while." the younger one says.

Zain replies, "okay. Is Mommy and Dad coming?" while staring at his hands.

"In a little bit, but they have to come talk with me. I'm Tina." the older one smiles.

"I don't want them to go."

"It'll only be for ten minutes, Munch." I say.

"That's six hundred seconds, buddy. It's not that long, hm?" Sincere says.

"Only six hundred?" he asks.

"Only six hundred."

Zain sighs, "fine."

Sincere and I stand up but before I leave, I kiss Zain on his forehead. Tina takes us into a room that's right next to the one we left Zain in and she has us sit to ask questions.

"So what symptoms has he been showing?" she asks.

"Umm... there's quite a few." I begin. "He's very quiet, and doesn't talk that much. When he cries, it's very, very silent. He's also very sensitive to loud noises. And he does this thing with his hands like this," I demonstrate, "while humming."

"Okay, okay. Is there anything else? Like, does he avoid eye contact often?"

"Yes! Yes, he does. In the past nine years of his life, even as a baby, he's only held eye contact with me once." I answer.

"What about you, Dad?" she asks Sincere.

"Um, I've seen everything she's said, but when I'm helping him with his homework, or we're having a one-on-one, he always holds eye contact with me. I don't know why."

"Really? Normally the child can only hold eye contact with the mother. Or no one at all. Does he have any siblings or immediate family he sees often?"

"Yes, he has a twin sister but also a lot of close family. He can't hold eye contact with any of them either." I say.

"What about his facial expressions or body language? Does it change at all?"

"No, not really. He's normally really flat." Sincere answers.

"Hm. It sounds to me that he does have autism. Level two to be exact, maybe even three."

My breath hitches and my eyes widen.

"But it's not a bad thing! Autism is not a bad thing. He just needs a bit more care and support, that's all." Tina says.

"W-what kind of support? I mean, we've been paying special attention to him for the past couple of years. What more can we do?" I say as I wipe a tear away.

"In all honesty, it seems like you're already doing everything you can. I mean, from the looks of it, you're patient with him. You listen to him, you help him and you overall take great care of him. I don't think there's much more you could do besides watch him with school."

"So, we're doing fine?" Sincere asks.

"Better than fine."

I let out a heavy sigh, "what's his love life going to be like? What if he doesn't meet anyone ever because of his disability?"

"Well, you'll just have to let him grow up and figure that out himself."

I nod, "okay. Can we go back with him now?"