Adventures with my Aspie

Many people know that my darling youngest has Aspergers. This has been a great challenge, yet enjoyable blessing, to our family. We have been able to learn to see things a different way. We have to think "out of the box" to relate things. We have to lower our voices and be kinder. These are such great blessings for us. She is so very delightful, when she is delightful, yet gut wrenchingly and devastatingly difficult when she is difficult. We recently had one of those days.

For the most part, she has been doing really well. She has been off her meds, has a normalized routine, and has an AMAZING 1st grade teacher that is willing to understand her and her needs. Her teacher has given her the flexibility she needs while still holding her to the rules. So far it has been really good. I was starting to think that maybe Haiden was growing out of whatever her issues were. That she was starting to grasp things better, and that maybe we were wrong, she was just a late social bloomer. Then the hammer....

She's flapping. She's never done this before, not to the extent that I've ever noticed, but she's flapping. She gets excited, and she starts to flap or shake her fists. She gets really upset and she jumps and flaps. When I realized she'd done it several times this week, and more than once in a day, I cried. She is back to baby-talk and limited conversation. She won't look at me when I speak to her. I have to tell her to look at my nose. I hate this! The medication works, until it stops, then we have to find a new one. I don't want to find a new one again! So, I don't know what to do for this poor child. I just want her to struggle less. I don't want her to be normal, I don't wish for that. So maybe I just let her flap, and draw and color and sing and dance and sell rocks.