Posts Tagged ‘tantrum’
10 Things That Helped Me During Meltdowns As An Autistic Child
One of the more common questions I get asked as a professional speaker and autism self-advocate is about my communication challenges. After this question though the majority of the questions are about my previous meltdowns due to sensory-overload. As a nonverbal child until I was 3, most people think my main obstacle was communication when actually it was sensory integration dysfunction. My main challenges included loud noises, inclement weather, bright lights and not being able to be bathed until 18 months old due to the textural feeling of water on…
Read MoreBeauty in the Breakdown
As Moms, all of our children have had a public “temper tantrum”. It’s awful. You can see it coming most times and try to brace yourself for impact. Tantrums stink point blank. You’re sweating, your kid is flailing, people are staring and you just want to RUN. A meltdown is a bit different. A meltdown occurs when a body has endured too much stress. It looks like a tantrum but can not be contained like a tantrum. Meltdowns can get ugly, real ugly. Meltdowns not only break down your child…
Read MoreIt's Not His Fault Kate
Last night Cooper refused to eat dinner. (What’s new, right?) There was kicking, screaming, head hitting, throwing, etc. The whole ordeal lasted a little over an hour. I got it into my head that this kid was taking one bite of pasta. And I wasn’t giving up. After the first time-out Cooper took a bite. And then pulled out the gagging. And spit it out. He shoved his plate, threw his fork, dumped out his milk, and dropped a few handfuls of pasta on the floor. I went about my…
Read MoreWe All Want What We Want, Exactly When We Want It.
Cooper has an opinion on everything. Every. Single. Thing. We. Do. I get him a blue cup and he wants a red cup. I put his snack in a blue bowl and he wants his Lightening McQueen Bowl. For his snack he wants a few Cheerios, Chex Mix, Goldfish and 2 Vanilla Wafer Crackers. No compromise on this one. He wants his Thomas shirt. Not his blue dinosaur shirt. He doesn’t want to sit in his booster anymore. He wants to pick his chair and also pick where mom and…
Read MoreHow to Tell the Difference Between a Tantrum and a Meltdown.
I just saw this on Pinterest and it really struck me. It was an ah-ha moment I guess. Cooper is obsessed with getting a reaction. Pretty much everyone that has met him will admit this. He is driven by reactions from others. If Cooper gets mad for whatever reason he goes into full blown tantrum mode. Since he can’t speak he tends to knock over chairs. Or maybe knock stuff off a table. (It’s exasperating!) But the odd part about it is he waits until you are looking. He will…
Read MoreThis Isn't The Life I Pictured
I called my mom and cried today. I haven’t cried in quite some time over all of this. I was able to get out of the house alone and run some errands and as I was driving I finally broke down crying. I have been holding it in for a few days and it just got to be too much. The day-to-day with Cooper is so hard. Let me rephrase that. If we let Cooper do whatever he wants life is easy. If we challenge him all hell ‘can’ break loose.…
Read MoreHow Can You Hate Everything?
“It’s not humanly possible that you hate everything Cooper. Unless, you aren’t human and you were sent to this earth to make me insane. Then, I guess yes, it might be possible.” Then I looked deep into his eyes to see if maybe he was indeed an alien. Nope. No sign. This is something I said to Cooper yesterday on the way home from his first occupational Therapy appointment. Let me remind you that this place is amazing and the therapist is an angel. An actual angel. She had the…
Read MoreJust Tell Us What To Do
Please God just tell us what to do. Simple as that. Cooper had an epic fail at speech today. As I type this I am actually shaking my head because it gets worse every single appointment. How? Why? Someone reading this might actually think I am joking. Or exaggerating. Trust me…I am not. I took Cooper to his speech appointment this morning alone and he did well for the first 20 minutes. Yes, he hopped from activity to activity but we were able to engage him. His therapist loves him and…
Read MoreTell Me This Is Going To Be Okay?
At so many times during this journey with Cooper I have wanted someone to tell me what to do. Tell me if I am doing the right thing. Am I giving Cooper the best medical care? Should I be doing more? Why is it so hard to raise him? Why is he so difficult? Will he ever talk? Will he ever be able to say Mom? Or I love you? Being a mom is the hardest thing I have ever done. I am completely and utterly responsible for this little…
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