An "A" Day

As we sit in the purgatory between insurance approval and wait list for further testing, life continues.  Today was not a grand day for my son.  I was at work when I got the call.  He was in the middle of a melt down.  It was so severe that they could not get him on the bus to take him from daycare to school.  

He has had several adjustment issues due to the new school schedule.  His doctor was adamant that he needed to be placed in a mainstream class.  I approve of this as his IQ is high.  So, he is in kindergarten, and the days are long.  Which means he gets tired.  

I'm not sure what exactly set him off this morning.  But, I doubt it took much.  You can see the anxiety rising off of him lately.  I try to make sure that I have him laugh every morning.  I think that if I can get him to laugh, he will be better positioned to greet the day.  He did laugh today.  But, apparently that did not help.

The Director of the daycare called me.  She was trying to help (enabling him to hear my voice).  But, he thought he would be in trouble, so became even more frantic.  When he locks up, it is like his mind cannot process normal thoughts.  He becomes irrational.  If you try to focus on the issue/what occurred, he will clamp up tighter.  I asked the Director to put me on speaker phone, and I calmly set about talking him back to normality (at least to where his brain could think rationally again).  I started by telling him to put his arms around himself to give himself a hug from me.  His answer:  No.  I asked him if he wanted me to blow him a kiss. No.  I asked if he wanted to snuggle me later.  No (but a little less forceful).  I was starting to make headway.  Did he want to help me make dinner later.  Uggg.  At least not No.  Eventually, he could talk with me.  My job was done.  And, I did it over the phone.  This is a big accomplishment.  But, I will not always be available to calm him.  I need him to learn self-calming techniques.  Hopefully, that starts soon.

He went on to school.  And, I expected a bad day.  But, he was able to reset and have a decent day.  Not always perfect, he didn't always follow the rules, but he tried.  And for someone (even without the "A" word), isn't that all I can ask?