Happy Holidays and Post Merry Christmas to my Autism Family! Today, December 26 2011 has been an interesting beast. Let's take a look back:
Christmas Eve and Day were almost perfect to say the least. With all the hustle, bustle, blinking lights, bad traffic & long car rides for King Khalil and the gang - at least there weren't any melt downs from overstimulation. We in fact, had to drive around the block a few times looking at beautifully decorated homes and lights to stall for time while gifts were being wrapped at the last minute at home. Still... no incident. In fact, an excited King loved all that we were doing and was using more sentences and descriptive words than usual (thanks to Neurofeedback). "Oh Mommy, look it!" "Oh My Gosh, I love how pretty that house is" "Mommy I so excited, Santa Claus is coming". All favorite lines that now register in my mind. After tracking Santa on Norad, the kids all hopped into bed and effortlessly went to sleep... even my lil ASD King Khalil.
Christmas day was amazing. As usual, it took King Khalil a few minutes to process that Santa mysteriously had come, placed TONS of colorful packages under the treee and disappeared as quickly as he came. But once he saw his sister & cousin ravage open their gifts, King Khalil followed suit. More and more language emerged with each exciting toy. He recognized almost EVERY gift he put on his Christmas list: Mommy I got Lego Star Wars on Wii; Mommy look a puzzle; Oh my God play dough! As my dad watched on SKYPE from Boston, my sister and I couldn't help but crack up over King's display of overt language and excitement. And so the rest of the day went. Without a hitch.
December 26, 2011 proved to be the opposite with the return of Grumpy Smurf (King's name when he's fussy). Everything was a problem, he fussed at his sister, cousin and me relentlessly for hours. Wouldn't brush teeth, didn't want to eat, his tummy hurt, on and on. All my ABA, PBA skills were ineffective and there was no redirecting him. Even my usual tricks of "Mommy Time" where I rub his head and give deep compressions to his joints failed. Grumpy Smurf was with us most of the day right up into an unexpected late nap at 3pm, something King never does. Alas, he was probably overstimulated from the previous day's events and tired himself out, but unable to express his exhaustion like Neurotypical kids. One thing we have found with King, it takes him longer to process stimuli, good bad or indifferent. But once he get's it, he get's it (whether learning a new skill or falling out from sheer exhaustion). Suffice to say, a well rested King Khalil gets rid of Grumpy Smurf, hopefully not to return again for a few months (so says the delusional Warrior Mom of Autismland)!
Happy Holidays Autism Family!
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