What do you expect to see when you walk into your child's preschool classroom for pickup?
Kids all singing along for music time?
Or perhaps playing with blocks?
Maybe some finger painting (with a bit of paint on themselves)?
Why yes. That's exactly what I expect to see. Lots of smiles and laughter to boot.
Today? Today was...heart breaking.
A children's learning video was playing on the tablet and all the kids were dancing and singing along.
Except Liam.
Where was he you ask?
Well Liam was as far away from the other kids that the teachers would let him get. His eyes were wide and uneasy. He had his fingers in his ears trying to shut out the noise. He was in his bad place.
Liam had had too much. What upsets me more is that the staff didn't recognize what was going on. A staff that deals with mainly IEP/special needs kids.
One even asked me what he was doing when he had his fingers in his ears. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Really? You don't recognize the signs of overstimulation when they're stairing you in the face?
When he saw me he came running as fast as his legs would go. I could see the worry and pain in his eyes and stooped down to his level. Liam ran right into me and kept climbing until he was in my lap, grappled on to me as tight as his arms and legs would let him. His head nustled into my neck in an attempt to shut out the world.
I could have cried. I would have cried. I almost cried.
I held him tight was we walked to the car. Strapped him in his car seat as I told him we'd be home soon. In a attempt to make him feel better, I asked if he wanted his cars. He denied them. "No" he said and shook him head. Ok buddy. I get it.
On the way home the windows had to be rolled up in attempt to shut out light (thank goodnes for tented windows). The radio all the way off. He just couldn't have take anymore stimulation.
At home I had to keep the curtains closed, making sure to shut out as much light as possible. The tv was turned down to a bare whisper. I basically resorted to what I used to have to do when he was a baby. A dark quiet room.
Liam wanted his cartoons. I couldn't deny him. Not today. Some nice calm bps cartoons. Liam curled up into a ball and laid there just relaxing. It was quiet time. He didn't want to be touched. He didn't want to be talked too. He just needed to be left alone to de-sensitize.
To see him like this breaks my heart. No one seems to understand. I don't know why he's like this but he is. I just want to find a way to help him.
I've researched different ways to help him with his sensory issues. I've been working with him for years on this. That's the only reason he's as good as he is now. How to I help him process everything at school?!
The only idea I have is to stay with him during class. As many days as it takes to teach his teachers how to deal with him. They need to know how to recognize the signs that he's being overwhelmed. They need to know what they should do when the signs start popping up.
He needs to be taken away from the group, somewhere quiet. If only for a few minutes. Then he can be reintroduced to the class.
I need to see how they're interacting with him. How he interacts with them.
Call me a helicopter mom if you want but if we don't fix this now it's going to impact his learning abilities. This year and next year are critical. After that it's main stream schooling with classes 4 times bigger than his current. If he can't find a way to process with only 5 kids how is he going to cope with 30?
This is my son. My baby boy. Seeing the pain in his eyes is just too much. As we've done everything else, we will find a way to overcome this. We will find a way to conquer this.
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