Lately the family has been on a health kick and I am trying to incorporate walking into most of our activities. Luckily for us the summer school program for the boys is less than a mile from where we live at an nearby elementary school, so instead of driving we walk. No problem right? NOT. These last few times we have walked it's been a little nerve racking. We have to walk to cross the street at a crosswalk. The first few times BP was very cooperative while waiting for the light and holding my hand at the same time, then when the little green man popped on we gracefully walked across. On Friday it was different. This time BP ran up to the corner to where we stop, pushed the button to cross and refused to hold my hand. When the "green man" popped on he refused to hold my hand again, while I tried to grab it and he begin walking across the street radically, screaming at the same time. He was not paying attention to the cars waiting at the light and almost walked into one! He literally would have stopped in his tracks if I hadn't of grabbed him out of the way. Meanwhile my other son C tripped and fell on the street, skinned his knee and elbow. I was so busy dealing with BP that I didn't even see him fall.
So yesterday I tried a different strategy. I decided that we should cross at different street that has less traffic and in front of the school. Yesterday went very smoothly, today not so smoothly. Today we approached the cross walk refusing to hold my hand. This "the green man" popped on very quickly and he didn't want any part of holding my hand. I had to physically hold on to him and at that point he refused to continue. BP sat down in the middle of the street, screamed. I had to pick him up and forcibly get him across the rest of the way or else we could have been hit by cars. "The little green man" waits for no one.
These are the "whats" of Autism. What set him off? Could it have been the fact that he and his brother argued over who would push the button to cross the street just befored they crossed? I honestly do not like being forceful with my son. I fear for his life and if he isn't going to budge I must do what I can. He simply doesn't understand the concept that cars will hit you or the idea of safety. I will trudge on and we will try the crosswalk again tomorrow.
So yesterday I tried a different strategy. I decided that we should cross at different street that has less traffic and in front of the school. Yesterday went very smoothly, today not so smoothly. Today we approached the cross walk refusing to hold my hand. This "the green man" popped on very quickly and he didn't want any part of holding my hand. I had to physically hold on to him and at that point he refused to continue. BP sat down in the middle of the street, screamed. I had to pick him up and forcibly get him across the rest of the way or else we could have been hit by cars. "The little green man" waits for no one.
These are the "whats" of Autism. What set him off? Could it have been the fact that he and his brother argued over who would push the button to cross the street just befored they crossed? I honestly do not like being forceful with my son. I fear for his life and if he isn't going to budge I must do what I can. He simply doesn't understand the concept that cars will hit you or the idea of safety. I will trudge on and we will try the crosswalk again tomorrow.
Karen:
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog and I'm glad to see that your keeping up with yours on a regular basis! I'm afraid I've been spending more time on my other blog and I need to get back to blogging about the boys more regularly.
As for Brendan's reaction-- it's likely that he made the connection between the green man and "go" and wanted to show you that he could cross the street by himself. It's was probably just a struggle to gain some independence. My son Nathan is much like that and wants so badly to do things by himself. Since he finally started talking, his vocabulary has improved and he will now tell me "Nathan do, Nathan do" when he wants to do something by himself. Of course, what he wants to do is messy, complicated or even dangerous so he doesn't always get to do what he wants but he is expressing independence.
You may want to try explaining to Brendan that it's is unsafe to cross without help. If that doesn't work, you could try telling him that you need help crossing because you don't want to fall down. My other son Peter responds well to these requests for "help" and will stay with me.
Mine have no traffic sense whatsoever. We are working on it, well we've always been working on it come to think of it. It's especially nerve racking at the moment because of the bolting! Need to step up the campaign around here.
ReplyDeleteBEst wishes