Sensory Overload

Yes I know I have been MIA here for close to a week but you know people get busy. I did want to share a youtube video about sensory overload. Keep your speakers on and watch this.

If you think about it if this was going on in your head it would scare the crap out of you. Roger watched it and said it was close for him. No wonder mid meltdown it seems as he can't hear us talking. He can't filter us out. We are still working on teaching him to know when it is about to happen so he can leave the area and maybe avoid the meltdown.

Meltdown 101

As I type this we are in the mist of a meltdown. A bad one its been going for 2 hours without an end in sight. What started it he was online and found some naruto cards he wants. I said no and it was all down hill from there. The hissing, the growling, the physical ticks that always get so much worse. Pacing around the house, pulling things off shelves. But it couldn't have come at a better time. The ABA therapist was here to do our initial interview for services and she had a front row seat to it all. Roger presents as a normal kid. When she came in he was on the computer like any other kid his age, he gets good grades, and has great test scores. But when the ugly side shows it shows. Finally someone saw it and knew I'm just trying to help him and maybe if I'm lucky lessen these meltdowns. After what she witnessed it was yes you need services. She also said it must be exhausting for me but you know It must be exhausting for him. To not be able to regulate himself or get himself off of a topic.

one of the signs that has gone up

another one mid meltdown since I am the one who made him mad

Melt Downs

Roger had a speech evaluation the other day. First I went to the wrong clinic I went to our normal clinic and not the new one right across the street. We finally get to the right place and Roger was already a little anxious.

When we first got there we were the only ones in the waiting room and the TV was on playhouse Disney, Which Roger wanted nothing to do with. While he was pacing back and forth one of the nurses saw him and asked " Hey Buddy what do you need?" He actually responded with can you change the channel please? Since he was the only kid in the room they changed it and that calmed him down a bit. 

That would have been the end of it if a person who I am going to call the beltway diva had not come in. I was out of the room filling out paperwork just a few steps away. Anyways she comes in and requests the TV be turned off because she does not allow her child to watch TV. Really because you are the only people in this room. Now you understand the term beltway diva, we have a lot of them around here who think they are superior and their children are better than everyone else but that's a story for another time.

Of course that made Roger start stemming and for him that meant walking in circles around the room nonstop. I was back by this point so I just watched to make sure he was not in anyone's way which there were only two of us so he was good. It only took about 2 min for her to be annoyed by Rogers circles. I didn't say anything to her but thought this is your fault you made them turn the TV off with no warning so there was no time to prep him that it was going to happen. A couple of good things came from this 1) the diva was annoyed 2) the speech pathologist got to see Roger all worked up. Now for the bad it took 20 min to calm him down to be able to do the testing. 

Why the woman didn't ask to wait in a treatment room rather than have it turned off I will never know. I can only assume shes a typical diva who is self entitled and thinks nothing about anyone else and cares only about her and only her wants matter.