One of the reasons I talk about my son’s struggles on this
blog is to try to raise awareness.
Awareness to decrease judgment. Awareness
to decrease fear. Awareness to increase
understanding.
Today, when picking Aiden up from school, I knew that I
needed to inform him as soon as he got in the car that we were going to stop at
the educational store down the street, how long we would be there, and exactly
what we would be doing (5 minutes and buying a cursive workbook he requested,
for the record). When he was outside in
the yard and saw me take a plant out of the window to water, he came to the
window and started knocking, Sheldon Cooper style (Google Bing Bang Theory TV
show if you don’t know what I’m talking about!), and after the 20 seconds it
took me to get back to the window I had to calmly point out, once again, that I
would be right there in a few seconds, there is no need to keep knocking like
that. As I handed him his dinner, I explained
that the cheese on his burger was indeed cheddar, it was just white cheddar, no
need to worry.
Why? Because I know
my kid. I know how the slightest bit of
change in schedule or feeling like he does not know what is going on or that he
can’t have mom immediately when he needs her freaks him out. How it causes anxiety. How it can create a miserable evening. How there is something in his brain that just
misfires.
And a particular event at school has made me even more
determined to raise awareness. The
children with “accommodations”, aka 504 plans or IEP’s get pulled out to a
separate classroom for standardized testing (known as FCAT here). Those particular children, this week, are
taking their tests on other than the scheduled days. The scheduled days that are emphasized to
everyone. And no one told them or their
parents ahead of time. What do you think
that does to a kid who has a problem with eating white cheese instead of
yellow? It sets them up for more
failure. And shows me that the need for
understanding is huge.
And that’s why I write.
And when the frustration is overwhelming, that is why they have wine!
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