Visitor blogger, Michelle L.
As I used to be rising up (attended college, graduated faculty, grew to become a instructor, after which grew to become a mother), I used to be referred to as somebody who likes construction and is sweet at making programs to have that construction.
Nonetheless, it was not till my son was a toddler that I spotted that I didn’t NEED construction, I needed and used it.
When my son was a toddler, he began displaying us that he NEEDS construction. He would get upset once we would flip a distinct manner as we traveled to “the parkâ€. Or if we didn’t go to the identical donut retailer to get the identical donuts, each single Thursday.
As he went into preschool, he began consuming the identical meals for breakfast each single day, the identical actual meals for lunch (every single day), after which the identical actual issues for dinner each single night time. As his mother and father, we began to query and surprise why this was taking place. Was it a boy who simply loved the identical route and cherished the identical meals or was there one thing extra to it?
As he entered Kindergarten, the NEED for construction intensified and began to exhibit some behaviors if the construction was not adopted to his mind’s liking. So, we determined to have him evaluated and our premonitions have been confirmed. Our son who NEEDS construction has Autism, a neurodevelopment dysfunction characterised by persistent deficits in social communication and restricted repetitive behaviors.
His mind works greatest when he has a construction in his on a regular basis routine.
What does this imply?
1. He nonetheless eats the identical meals for lunch. Each single day. And we MUST all the time have frozen Smuckers Uncrustable PB and Strawberry sandwiches available as a result of he may eat only one, or he may eat 5 that day.
2. He wakes up each morning asking what the plan is. We go over the every day construction for him so he is aware of what to anticipate. (We drive to high school, you have got college, mother or dad will decide you up, after college membership, mother will decide you up, dinner if you get dwelling, 1 ‘brief’ hour of free time, bathtub, bedtime. If the construction is altered, there may very well be some unsettledness that occurs. Anxiousness is all the time at bay and able to be exhibited.
3. When mother has to work on Fridays and received’t be there for college decide up, she wears her blue work shirt to sign to him that it’s Mother’s workday and it’ll look completely different after college. (The sort of sign for him helps a lot and his mind is ready to course of and keep in mind the completely different routines that may happen.)
4. Transitions are arduous to maneuver. It brings nervousness to his mind when it’s time to maneuver from one factor to the subsequent.
5. House is the most secure place to be for his mind and brings probably the most construction, despite the fact that it might trigger probably the most unrest generally.
How will we overcome and embrace the NEED for construction?
1. We now have turn out to be a really structured schedule household. We do the identical issues, the identical manner, time and again, to convey relaxation to his nervousness.
2. We talk time and again what is occurring and if there’s a change we make certain to let him know that it’s coming.
3. We use timers for the whole lot. It provides him a way of starting and finish so he is aware of what the subsequent factor is. It additionally permits a sound to make the sign as a substitute of a voice telling him to cease doing one thing or that it’s time to transition.
4. We embrace the construction and love him for who he’s and the way God created him.
We’re nonetheless studying and overcome new challenges every day. Day-after-day brings new beginnings, and what works at the moment generally doesn’t work the subsequent day. So despite the fact that the construction is constructed, flexibility is what is required.