Major Meltdown

One of the predictables when living with a child that has disabilities, is the unpredictability. This morning is no exception....

We're on the last day of the school Christmas break. We decided to get out this morning, and make a few stops like the bank and the supermarket. Dawson was fairly mellow (kind of like the picture shows), so we thought that we could all go together...... Well!

We made it to our first stop, and as Sylvia ran inside, Dawson completely melted. (Many of you may wonder what a meltdown is- it's a state of mind where you lose all control, and any sense of reasoning that someone may try is futile). He screamed at the top of his lungs, kicking the car seat, and throwing off his glasses. You can try whatever you want, but the there's just no way to reason with him. It got so intense, that I turned up his music really loud in the car (I know that sounds like a silly reaction, but when you're in the middle of it, you do strange things to cope with it and to keep your own emotions in check), and of course that didn't help. By the time we were at the bank, he was completely gone.

We decided to go home without stopping at the supermarket. It's funny how so many of our excursions- whether a social event or errand, have been cut short because of these situations.

It's something that we've come to terms with.

Of course, there are many reasons why he may have acted this way. We may have not properly prepared him for the trip- we use a picture schedule for all major transitions in the day. He may have not liked the destinations that we told him about. But most likely, he is becoming very frustrated with the lack of routine that time away from school brings. He enjoys school, and has much more of a tight routine during the school year (in that sense, we're already dreading summer break). By the way, it's an hour later or so, and he's happy now. Funny how this can be such a roller coaster. It's not even noon, and I'm drained. -t