Today has had so much packed into it that it feels like it's been at least two days. We've had a fairly quiet summer. We've done some art projects and had some low-key fun, including a fantastic picnic with the local Asperger's society. And now we've had a hectic couple of days, with a visit from Rose's cousin yesterday and the official start of the school year today for both Rose and her sister.
Rose's quirks all rise to the surface when she's stressed, of course. Some of them are relatively innocuous, like finger-flicking and toe-walking, others become more obvious, like withdrawing or not being able to register someone talking. Then there's the panic attacks and emotional explosions over things like... clicking the link to the wrong video on YouTube, or the fact that the screensaver went on.
But overall, I have to say that this is really damn mild anxiety compared to say, starting a new school year at a public school. And in fact, some of the anxiety Rose is experiencing now, I believe to be linked to the emotional triggers of "starting school" from the past couple of years. She freaked out over clicking the wrong link to a video because she felt as though "everyone" (?) knew that she messed up again.
Very, very fortunately, this particular video we were about to watch was Phil Plait's piece for kids on scientific methodology - and how science is about trying things out, including being wrong and correcting oneself. It made for a great support to say, "It's OK, even scientists (like you want to be!) make mistakes or are wrong, it's completely expected, and in fact mistakes are great, because you get to learn from them."
We ended the school day with a distinct sense of satisfaction. And some ice cream, of course.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment