My Family's Experience with Autism: I don't think they know what they're getting into....

Monday, July 19, 2010

I don't think they know what they're getting into....

.....on Friday, Simon came home from school with a permission slip. They are planning a field trip to an outdoor concert, just a short distance away from the school. ARE THEY NUTS!?!?!?!?!?!?! I know how Simon handles shows. And his school has been informed about this as well, as we worked with them while we prepared (or attempted to prepare) Simon for that Laurie Berkner Band concert in May.

There are outdoor concerts near his school every Thursday morning. I had been debating keeping Simon out of school to take him to one of these performances (and then bring him to school after we left the show [at it's end or earlier]), but I haven't done this to date. We know he needs to learn how to handle performances. The field trip includes (1)walking over there (2) attending the concert and finally (3) walking back to school when it's over. I repeat myself from earlier in this post....ARE THEY NUTS!?!?!?!?!?! Simon will have SO MUCH trouble with this.

They are asking parents, if they are available, to come help out. I am unavailable -- the time I'd be required to be there I'll be getting Daniel to HIS camp. The alternative is taking Daniel to the concert. Dealing with Simon will take all of my attention. If I drop Daniel off at his camp, by the time I arrive there, I'd just be in the way and getting Simon started again, IF they'd managed to calm his down. And to be honest, I don't want to see this. I remember all of our previous experiences with this and it's just simply heartbreaking.

I really want him to attend this concert. I don't know the group performing (which will make preparing him for the experience a bit more difficult), but it's an experience he NEEDS. But how do I set him up for the torture that I know that experience will be for him?

When I went to pick the twins up today, I spoke with the Education Coordinator there, bringing up my concerns about this concert and mentioning my desire for him to attend the trip. She reassured me that they'll handle it just fine. But I've SEEN him at a concert where we spent 6 weeks of bombarding him with anything that had been suggested to prepare him. Now we're talking about 6 days or so and I suspect there's going to be no preparation by the school. As soon as he sees the stage and the speakers, the screaming is going to begin. And, as a big kid, they're going to have a serious fight on their hands. I need to figure out how much I need to intervene here.

He needs to learn. And so do I.

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A Little Bit About Me and My Family

Every once in a while, something happens to a family that seems to change everything, whether that change is positive, negative, or in an uncertain direction. One such thing happened to us in March 2009, when we were informed our 26 month old twins (girl/boy) were BOTH on the autism spectrum. Their older brother (nearly 4 at the time) had always been ahead of the curve for most developmental milestones, so we had never really considered that some of the delays the twins were having had anything to do with autism. Well, we were wrong. Since then we have been learning about learning techniques and doing everything we can to make sure they get any and all help they need so that they can live normal lives. This blog chronicles that journey.

The Autism Pizza

I don't know where this came from originally, but I found it on a post on Circle of Moms. It's a good explanation of how things line up on the spectrum.

1. The Crust: Lack of Social Interaction (poor eye contact, not sharing interests with you, no pointing/gesturing)

2. The Sauce: Impaired Communication (possibly no speech, poor conversation skills, repetitive language, echolalia, no make-believe play)

3. The Cheese: Stereotypical Activities & Interests (extreme routine, strong interest in certain things, stimming [flapping, atypical play, etc.] -- like spinning wheels, lining toys up, stacking, etc.)

If you have all of those things: crust, sauce, cheese, you made an Autism pizza. It might have different toppings, but you can look at it and know it's still a pizza. If your pizza doesn't have sauce, that's Aspergers's. If your pizza is missing more than that but still kind of looks like a pizza, that's PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified)