My Family's Experience with Autism: Laurie Berkner Concert, Part 2

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Laurie Berkner Concert, Part 2

After asking you to wait for the pictures, I'm hate to admit that I wasn't able to PhotoShop any of the pictures we took during the concert to anything usable for this blog, so I probably could have included them in the original post. But, if you read to the end, you'll see the benefit of waiting.

So, here are the pictures. I hope you enjoy it, because I had fun taking them and seeing my children embrace the experience.

After everyone is dressed, we need to take pictures. Daniel is "helping" by holding Rachel in place so I can snap a picture showing off her new "tap shoes". Simon and Rachel start dancing to get in the spirit of the day.

This was our attempt at tagging the twins (Daniel had something similar in his pocket) -- I tried to tape these to Rachel's and Simon's back (the differences between the two are obvious). Unfortunately, they weren't adhering well and they would each reach behind them to remove them, so it didn't work.

But I would recommend ANYONE going to a crowded place with autistic children to somehow "tag" them. If kids get lost, they can panic. Autistic kids often can't express themselves effectively when panic strikes, even if they can under normal circumstances. This way, they don't have to. Their "tag" does it for them. You can use temporary tattoos, military style dog tags, whatever. These are not difficult to find online. But it definitely gives caregivers a peace of mind knowing that others can help if the kids get lost.

Simon, Rachel and Daniel, during the concert. As soon as the concert started, Simon assumes "the position", with his hands over his ears. But he's not crying or complaining. This is all right for now.

Then, as things get going, they start to get a bit more comfortable. Simon even takes one hand off his ear. He's still not sure what to make of it all. Rachel's just excited.

Then Rachel with a lobster on her head and Daniel with Zebra on his head (during "Pig On Her Head"). This is when Simon lost the hands over the ears as he held his bunny. Unfortunately, these are the only (and best) shots that I have of them that are viewable (and some of them I would BARELY call viewable). The theater (especially the back of the balcony where we were sitting) really was too dark for the camera without a flash (which isn't available on the iPhone 3Gs) and it was just too dark for PhotoShop to fix.

Daniel and Rachel approach the band (Laurie first) after the concert. They both gave her a big hug. Then Simon went up to her and started requesting songs. She obliged him by starting to sing the song he requested (3 in particular) before, after one line from each, he would ask for a different song. He definitely has a sense of humor, my Simon. The last picture, Daniel is actually present on Laurie's right (but I accidentally cut him out of the picture in my haste of getting a picture of the band), and Rachel and Simon are sitting on the laps of the other band members; Adam Bernstein (bass), Bobby Golden (drums), Susie Lampert (keyboards).

All 3 kids got "shaky eggs". This one is Daniel's (obviously).

And, for those of you who were waiting for the pictures, I have a surprise for you. Here's my Rachel with her version of "I Know A Chicken" that she decided to perform for me on Monday morning.

Thanks so much for reading about us, and for all the suggestions people gave us, both in direct response to my blog posts and to my many postings on Facebook. It was a wonderful day and now we're over a hurdle. We just have to be sure to reinforce this.

No comments:

Post a Comment

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)