Tallen has been highly stressed lately. It seems that just when I calm one of his irrational fears, someone has to open their big mouth and get him worried about something else. One of the symptoms of his disorder is that he takes everything he hears literally. If someone has a headache and comments, "My head is about to bust!", he moves out of the way with a quickness! lol Or if for instance, you were to ask him if he'd like to run over to Grandma's house with you, he really thinks that the two of you will be running instead of driving.
We are used to this quirk and just take care in how we say things around him but someone, probably a person that he saw when he was out with his dad the other day, told him that he sure was growing up fast. Now, he is convinced and worried that he is growing taller, fast. As in, soon he will be too tall for the house. He spends countless minutes during the day, discussing this with me. Where will he go when he busts out of this house? Does he need to build a new house, so we will have somewhere to go? Can I take him shopping for building supplies? On and on and on... The normal explanation of how he will only grow so much and then stop when he is an adult, does not register with him.
Out of frustration the other day, the girls and I gathered in a circle with him, held hands, and chanted, "You are shrinking! You are shrinking! You are shrinking!". This did the trick for a few hours. Now, every few hours, he turns up by my side and asks me to please shrink him again, as he feels like he is growing. I perform my magic chant and he breathes a sigh of relief. If one takes a moment and thinks of how many things we say without a second thought each day and imagines them in a literal sense, it is easy to see how scary this world must be for Tallen and others like him.
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11 comments:
When my son was about 3 I told him I had to go into the kitchen and keep an eye on the pizza which was in the oven. Luckily his fear subsided as I explained to him what I meant. :)
The visions that go through their minds must be horrible...
Hi, just making my rounds from SITS! I love your blog. I am new to blogging, but I have seen some wonderful blogs since joining SITS. I hope you have a good weekend and please come visit when you have a chance.
Stopping by from SITS to wish a fellow SITSta a WONDERFUL MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!!!
Love,
Taryn
I hear ya! They do have a world all of their own and it's sometimes funny how they see our world. I know one of the students' mom in the martial arts school where I work that has a group meet up for parents who has kids with Aspergers. Her kid has benefited a lot doing Martial Arts. They are very intelligent kids. Let me know if you want to be a part of the group. Happy Memorial Day!
Visiting via Sits,
Maricris
http://zenforyou.dalefg.net
Charlotte NC
Aww, bless his heart. I guess that (trusting) could be a good thing and a bad thing.
This is very touching. I love your blog. I have an award for you if you care to pick it up.
oh no....i just gave you an award and I noticed Elizabeth gave you the same one...oh well, tough crap, now you have two...lol
its on my special needs blog...
Visiting from SITS. I love your little chant. What a lucky kid to have a mom who works around problems instead of just losing her cool. You seem able to see through the eyes of another and that's great!
I can only imagine how scared he must be at moments like that. My oldest son, now 22, watched the Sesame Street episode where Cookie Monster "eats" the moon because it looks like a big cookie. He was in a panic. We told him we would show him the moon that night to calm him down, but since I haven't a clue about astronomy, we were wrong as there was no moon. He was stressed about it until he could see it again. It was as if a boulder had been taken off his shoulders. He was 2, maybe 3, at the time. (Visiting from SITS)
To be honest... I giggled a little. At least you found the magic to keep him in the house a little longer.
Have you ever read teh books "Parts", "More Parts" & "Even More Parts"? They are for young readers, my boys LOVE them. but the last one is all about the illertarations that we use all the time with out even thinking about it.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
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