I was really struggling to decide what I wanted to write about this week. I don’t know about anyone else, but the last few weeks have been a blur. I haven’t even posted much on our Facebook page. I don’t know why – I just don’t think about it or I’m too tired. Anyway, several weeks ago, Casey used fabric markers and spray paint (for fabrics) to decorate three shirts. She had been asking to tie dye for months, but we just hadn’t gotten around to it and when she finally had a choice, she picked the other way to decorate.
But – as typical Casey – she didn’t forget about the tie dying. She absolutely loves anything tie-dyed. The brighter, the better. She even has crocs that are tie dyed (tho she rarely wears them – I don’t think they are as comfy as she thought they would be). Mandy bought her two white shirts on sale and Casey began to remind me every few days she wanted to tie-dye them. Finally, last week, I remembered to order the stuff and today, we did her shirts.
I can’t even begin to tell you how excited she was! Huge grin, eyes sparkling, dancing around. I had looked up how to make different patterns and couldn’t wait to show her.
Casey, as usual, had her own ideas.
She carefully told me where to put rubber bands on the first shirt (one snapped, so she refused to try it herself). I just started to tell her how to put the dye to make patterns when the dye started flying. She went up and down the shirt squeezing the bottle as hard as she could and all ideas for special designs went out the window. But, as I stood and watched her carefully squeeze dye where she thought it needed to be, I noticed the twinkle in her eye and the big smile on her face. And I knew what my blog today would be about. It’s really simple – there is more than one way to do things.
Sometimes, we get so stuck on how we think things should be – how children will walk down a hall, how to tie shoes, how to sit at a desk, how to hold a pencil – that we forget not everyone thinks like us. And that is even more important when you have a child with special needs. They are incredibly able to adapt situations to fit their own needs. We forget that – I think because, especially with people with communication issues – because they won’t speak up for themselves and say “I want to do it this way!”
When she finished with the first shirt, she looked at me. I knew by the look in her eyes, she was wondering how to do the other one differently. I told her she could “color between the rubber bands” and that’s what she did – in her own pattern and squeezing as much dye as she could into each area. She still had the big smile and now she was giggling about it, too. I would have missed those special moments if I had made her do it the way I thought she should.
Living with autism for more than 30 years has taught me many things but the most important is to always think outside the box. Think outside what is considered “normal.” It doesn’t matter how you get to your goal, as long as you keep making progress in that direction. I had some wild ideas to help the kids when they were little. Some worked, some didn’t. And that’s okay. We just moved on past the ones that didn’t work and kept moving forward. Don’t get caught up in “the way it’s always been done.” Just because something has always been done one way doesn’t mean there aren’t better ways to do it.
Let your child be your guide. Use their interests (obsessions) to help teach other skills. Elmo showed Casey many things and I used lots of lines from the original Willy Wonka and Wizard of Oz to help Rob understand things. He knew those movies – he understood the words so I used them in odd ways, but it worked. Always think outside the box – who cares how silly something seems, as long as it helps your child?
Casey has very definite ideas about how her clothes need to be folded and put away. Rob couldn’t care less about how they are folded, but they need to be in a certain place in his room. And both ways are okay. Their laundry is folded and not on my dining room table, so I’m happy. I’m not going to ask either of them to do their laundry the way the other does.
Your child may be having sensory issues and that may be why they can’t do things the way you think they should. Maybe your perfume is too strong. Or the lights are flickering so much they can’t concentrate. Maybe their shirt is painful or they are hungry. Until your child can tell you why they don’t want to do things your way, you have to learn to relax and be happy they will do it their way.
There are a million ways of doing things. As long as your child is making progress, who cares how they get there? Relax and be happy!