Tag Archive for clothing and autism

26 Jan 2011
Autism • Parenting

Autism and a full moon.

by Jennifer Dyer

I apologize if you opened this and expected an astronomy lesson… It’s not about that kind of moon.

The other day I took eldest to a friend’s house and the little girl’s grandparents answered the door–her very sophisticated, well-groomed grandparents. While we chatted about pick-up times I noticed their gaze had shifted from me to my van, which was parked just outside the front door. When I turned around I…

Got a full moon! Rachel loves to sit in the van. It’s like her little office where she feels comfortable. So comfortable, in fact, that she often strips naked. And she had. Right there in front of my friend’s house. And she was shaking her bare hiney over the steering wheel in our direction.

I wanted to crawl under the car, but what can you do? I laughed and smiled at the sweet grandparents who still had not commented any more than, “She looks happy.”

I shrugged, as if this happened every day and said, “I guess it’s time for me to go.” But I couldn’t resist the opportunity to sweetly remind them of Rachel’s autism–it is a bit of a defense mechanism. (Who wants people to think they let their kids run around naked?) Anyway, I said it with a smile and laughed.

And they laughed with me, which lead to a nice conversation about special needs. When I left they mentioned something about having a lift to their day–one of their little grandchildren was in the hospital, so they were in need of one.

When I got into the car and tried to get Rachel dressed I realized something, well two things: laughter is a gift. And it does happen every day (both the laughter and the naked child in public…)

Autism…the fun never stops. I hope your day includes a laugh no matter what the circumstances.

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26 Oct 2010
Autism • Parenting • real life

Autism + blankie left at school + field trip + dentist visit = ?

By Jennifer Dyer

What do you get when you combine all of the above? A sleepless night, grouchy mama, and a naked, screaming child on the way to school.

What a day we had last week! A fun field trip to a pumpkin patch that included Rachel’s most favorite activity: dirt. She had a great time on the hay ride and while the others picked pumpkins, she sat in a dirt pile and tried to bury herself. Afterward, she discovered they had a swing, which made the experience that much better. Even better for her, because I had planned a dentist trip long before I knew there would be a field trip that day, we said goodbye to the school and headed off to Chick fil A for lunch and more playtime.

Rachel had a wonderful time at Chick fil A, although I have to say that the six “neuro-typical” boys in the play area were far wilder and harder to manage than the entire special ed crew that went to the pumpkin patch.

The rest of the day included therapy and picking up big sister at a friend’s house, who happens to have three dogs. As Rachel, much to her mama’s sadness, has developed a fear of dogs, this stressed her out even more.

So, I was not surprised when she was up and down all night, especially since we left blankie at school. Getting her ready for school the next morning was a nightmare that included lots of screaming, tears (mine), and numerous “helpful” suggestions from big sister. In the end, Rachel had parked herself in the car with only her shirt on (and I do mean only) and had done her best to rip the seams in two dresses and a skirt. I made one last attempt to get her dressed after pulling out of the garage.

My thinking was that I couldn’t let her win this battle and believe she could, once again, be naked in the car. We had already spent months fighting the naked-in-the-car battle. But I think the Holy Spirit spoke to me in that moment. Rachel was screaming, big sister would be tardy if we waited any longer, and I was about to lose my temper. I shut (okay slammed) the car door and took a few steps away. “God, I can’t do this!”

I took a deep breath and got into the car. I drove off, got sister to school on time, and arrived at Rachel’s school at the same moment her teacher happened to be running out to her car for something. Coincidence? I think not. With teacher’s help, we got Rachel dressed and off to school. And you know what? The next day she got dressed just fine.

Sometimes the best course of action is to take a deep breath and try again tomorrow.

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