Day 1 and Day 905

New year, new office!

This morning I welcomed my first patients into the new office at 610 Pittsford Victor Road.

This reminded me of when I first started blogging in anticipation of starting private practice.

In the spring and summer of 2016, I put a countdown in a blog post titled “Final Countdown.”

Feeling nostalgic and wondering if time stood still on this post, I took a look. That countdown clock has continued ticking ever since and here we are in a new forever home 905 days later.

Getting the space ready for today has been an all-hands-on-deck labor-of-love for the Harrison family. This included holiday visits from different sides of the family to pitch in with everything from childcare to switching out door knobs, major trash removal to interior decorating counsel.

We rung in the New Year at the new office working on important finishing touches such as…

Organizing toys in the waiting room.

Testing out Mario Kart in my new therapy space.

Thank you to everyone who has helped to make this dream come true. The trust and support of so many people has helped grow this practice into a place where more people can find help. Something that I know I can do no justice to is highlighting the role My Better Half has played in all of this. I intend to devote a full post to describing how my wife and best friend has built my dreams and given me the opportunity to live out my life’s calling. Can you guess when this post will appear? Until then, you’ll just have to remember that she even thought of the Keurig!

Coffee (and tea and hot cocoa) for everyone!

One of the greatest features of this new office is more space to expand!

For those of you that have reached out since I first announced my move, thank you. Thank you for your interest. Thank you for your patience. Now with this additional space, I will work with other providers to meet the needs of families, both the ones I currently see and those waiting patiently for services. You will be the first to know!

Day 1 in the new forever home.

My very own ADOS kit has arrived!

When does an adult get the chance to spend a ton of money on kid’s toys?  I’ll tell you when…

When they open a private practice and are prepared for ADOS testing on their first day on July 11!

Let me start by first explaining what the ADOS actually is. The formal description is as follows:

The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) is a semi-structured assessment of communication, social interaction, and play (or imaginative use of materials) for individuals suspected of having autism or other pervasive developmental disorders.

In a nutshell, the ADOS is a series of structured play and conversation opportunities that aid in determining whether someone meets criteria for autism spectrum disorder. Now the diagnostic process has many more components to it (e.g., a caregiver interview, review of educational records), but getting down on the floor with kids and interacting with them face to face is one of my favorite aspects of my job. To accurately and comprehensively diagnosis Autism, researchers standardized the “play” components so that each person receives relatively similar social opportunities. This test arrives in the form of paperwork protocols and a giant box-o-toys. My new office mates at the practice on East Avenue were shocked when a huge, heavy cardboard box arrived in the waiting room one morning. The box was big enough to hold a love seat, specifically this one. I had a great time unpacking and organizing the contents. For those of you who know how much I love organizing and sorting things, this was its own reward...

These are the materials for the ADOS for older children, adolescents, and adults.

These are the materials for the ADOS for toddlers and young children.

I have been administering the ADOS for many years and received great clinical training on how to interpret the results of this assessment as part of my graduate and post-doctoral training. Today marks an important day for me because now I get my very own set of toys that I get to share with my patients and their families at both of my office locations.

One added bonus is the shipping box:

It was so huge I brought it home to make a play house – talk about a great investment. 

A new home for favorite toys. Note the Dinotrux "bad guys" figures stored in the back of a garbage truck.