Helping Kids Cope with Stressful Situations

Earlier last week I was blessed to have been introduced to an autism specialist who was willing (and even better, happy) to council me on the phone about my 7 year old son who has been recently labeled as having Asperger's. He's not been through the full assessment as of yet, just to a child psychiatrist... so I'm hoping the diagnosis will recieve further clarification over the coming months.

In many ways he fits the profile and I've come to accept that he fits under the autism umbrella... somewhere. One of the questions I had for her was how to help him cope with stressful situations... or with disappointment or fear. He is the most emotional child I've ever known. He can also be the happiest. He feels everything very deeply and is passionate about everything from his books and toys to what his left arm looks like at any given moment. He tends to pick at it... a lot. Another story for another day.

Anyway, she suggested that he might do better with visuals than with verbal ques. I didn't really expect drawing stick figures would make a difference, but when he learned he was going with his little sister to the pediatrician for immunizations he had a complete meltdown. The thought of having a needle inserted into his arm was just too much. Remembering my conversation with the autism specialist I grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil and drew him out a visual of what going to the pediatrician would look like and how he'd be ok. How I'd be there, dad would be there, his stuffed dog (affectionately called BuhBuh) would be there and it would only hurt for a second or two. He not only stopped crying, but laughed for about 20 minutes at my goofy drawings, especially of the dog who looked like it was part alligator. I'll have to scan it for you all to see. We can all laugh at my lack of artistic ability! lol

In any case, my son was calm up until he saw the needles. This is still huge. He made it until 4:00 in the afternoon, about 6 hours knowing what was coming and remaining calm. He went into the doctor's examination room smiling. Ok... he still screamed bloody murder when he got the shot, but I'll take what I can get. I still would call the visuals a success.

The autism specialist mentioned she uses this technique with her own children, who btw don't have any form of disability. So, I thought I'd share my story here. Maybe if you have a child who is struggling with a fear or situation that he or she doesn't know how to prepare themselves for, the visual thing will help? Let me know if it does! I'd love to hear about it.

Oh, and in case you're wondering about the pictures, I decided recently that it was ok to post real photos of my real kids! lol Earlier in the year I announced that all photos were stock photos and not those of my own family. I've just recently decided that it would be a lot more interesting to see photos of the kids I'm writing about. This is a photo of my son "J" at the laptop we use for school. My house was actually clean in this photo (or at least this corner was), so I had to share it with you all. Can you relate? lol