OK - enough of the filigree verbiage : P
So - as I mentioned in my last blog, both my girls are going to summer camp each morning. I'll admit I experienced a few pangs of concern sending The Skink to a typical camp for typical kids, but when I asked the YMCA staff how they felt about having The Skink (mind you, most of them know her from the Y child care center where she plays while I work out) they seemed quite happy with the idea.
We have found that some of our biggest Skink-related challenges have actually come from her attendance of her Pre-K Special Ed class which is made up mostly of children with profound autism. We are no strangers to the autism spectrum... *ahem* (excuse me) and no strangers to some of the behaviors that go along with autism.
The Skink has a very natural talent for mimicking. This talent is GREAT when it comes to language skills, walking and eating at the table with a fork or spoon. This is NOT such a great talent when she has been in a classroom full of non-verbal children who emit 4 thousand decibel shrieks every few minutes for no apparent reason. You understand, I'm sure.
I got so tired of the shrieks that one especially shriekie day I grabbed the water gun we use to shoo the cats off the computer desks and squirted The Skink right between the eyes. It worked like a charm! The only problem is that now she has wised up to our method of punishment and will shriek and run around the corner. This is good considering this type of Skinkyness usually gives me a good case of giggles which I then have to stifle so as not to allow The Skink to believe I LIKE this behavior.
Although I briefly flirted with the thought of one of those remote-control dog training collars, I have a feeling most would frown on such methods. And anyway, I'm not afraid to hunt down and shoot my youngest... with a water gun, of course. :) And it has been working! We have far fewer shrieks than just a few days ago. It probably also helps that school is out.
So, back to the subject of summer camp! Camp started on Monday and when we came to pick the girls up, the councilors reported that The Skink pulled some hair and shrieked a number of times. On Tuesday, there were fewer cases of pulling and shrieking, and by today, there were NO hair-pulling issues, and only 1 or 2 random shrieks! Yipppeeeeeeee!!
Iraq has also been having a great time, although she was in a bit of a huff yesterday when, after refusing to speak to a number of fellow campers and stomping away from them for reasons the other children could not understand, a few of them told her they didn't want to play with her. How dare they! She didn't like my explanation that the other kids didn't like her behavior, but she did listen to my suggestion that she apologize to them today for the "misunderstanding." I don't know if she did or not, but she came home happy.
I have seen Iraq's unusual behavior myself. After playing with other kids for a time, she seems to shut down for reasons unknown and behave as though the other children have offended her. She'll stomp off and hide, refusing to look at or speak to anyone who dares to approach.
Of course after reading nearly everything the internet has to offer on Aspergers syndrome and autism spectrum disorders, I understand that she becomes over-stimulated. She goes on sensory overload and needs to remove herself from the situation and give herself time to process all the noise, light, movement, colors, smells and words coming at her. We just need to work on her self-removal skills which can be a little off-putting to other children. She also doesn't process communication the same way others do. All the literature tells us that non-verbal communication is the biggest stumbling block for "Aspies," but having had the opportunity to study my own little aspie for just over 7 years, my hypothesis is that she has difficulty with pretty much ALL forms of communication.
From the very beginning Iraq was overly sensitive to ANY and ALL stimulation. Yes - from the beginning!
First - I had horrible contractions from 22 weeks on - every 5 - 15 minutes apart for 16 WEEKS!
After 16 weeks of torture, she was NOT HAPPY, and let us know all about it. This is one of the pictures from the hospital.
We then experienced 3 - 5 hours of crying every night for the next 6 months. She did not tolerate any new people, toys, sounds and would not use her baby swing, bouncy chair or any of the other toys most babies love. The minute we would put her in the car, the screaming began and didn't stop until she was removed from the car... no matter how far we had to travel.
We kept asking her doctor for help, but he would only tell us she was high-maintenance and not to worry. In retrospect, I should have taken her over to his house one evening for a 5 hour serenade! My husband and I never got to go anywhere because she didn't like anyone else and would scream bloody murder the entire time we were out. Yes - it was hard, but amazingly as a parent going through it, it just caused me to love her with all my strength. We never risked putting her into day care - heck... we weren't stupid! We knew darn well we had the kind of baby other people kill. We simply couldn't have handled it if something had happened to her.
Interestingly, I never heard The Skink cry until after we got her home from the hospital... at 16 weeks of age! It was so rare we knew something must be amiss if she was crying. That's pretty much how Broadway was too. Just... happy.
So - I've rambled more than enough for the day. Lastly, my blood pressure is starting to come down.(I know - I'm not overweight and I have a healthy lifestyle. Just can not imagine why I would have high BP! Oh, wait... could it be... stress? Nahhhh!)
Such is life!
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