All A Matter Of Perspective

I've heard a lot of people, when describing activities to which they take their autistic children, they often expect and plan for a meltdown. Heart and I...well we're not really there yet. (Although we should be.) Spirit, Heart, and I, headed to the Eggs for Autism Easter Egg Hunt today. It was your typical hunt...booths, eggs, two thousand kids. I can see hundreds of dads with autistic kids chuckling to themselves. "Heh Heh Heh this guy thinks they aren't having a meltdown, what an idiot."

Well I have news for all of you know-it-all dads out there..."Sssssssuck it!" We did't have a meltdown...we had four, so HA! Yeah we had a meltdown, and then another meltdown, then another, and finally we got a balloon sword which he promptly popped on the ground under the pine tree. WELCOME TO MELTDOWN NUMERO QUATRO!

And meltdown number four can only be described as Mt Vesuvius meets the Big Bang Theory! KABLAAMO!

So laugh it up other autistic dads, I will be fully prepared for a meltdown anytime we head to an activity.

Suck on that!

Now on to the perspective shift. Among those that attended were some other "special needs" children. Special needs, I never thought I would be in THAT line, in that egg hunt, and not mistakenly being there. "Excuse me sir this is the special needs egg hunt, you and your son want the 8 - 10 year old hunt over there." Nope that wasn't us, there we were "belonging." It's a surreal moment when you actually realize that you are playing by a different set of rules.

The egg hunt started and I purposefully turned to see the 8 - 10 year old hunt...in a word bedlam. Spirit would have been land blasted and we would probably have experienced meltdown #4 early. Welcome to Holland Wayman Family, because on the other hand Brayden was with other "special needs" kids at the hunt and made pretty quick work of the eggs they had spread on the ground. So here we are, halfway between special needs, and the "normal" kids. That's where you will find the Wayman family.

I looked around the special needs part of the egg hunt and found Brayden to be severely high functioning compared to the other kids around me. These kids and parents were playing by the "special needs" rules, and the kids at the other hunt had the "normal" rule book. And here we were...no rule book for us.

"Here you go sir, here is your rule book."

"But ma'am you just handed me both rule books."

"I know," she says "Ya see both apply at different times."

"Oh," we say nodding. "Well great, so when do we use this one and when do we use that one?"

"I'm sure I have no idea," she says "I just hand out the books."

"Well who do we see about this?"

"Like I said sir I just hand out the books...next."

So there we stand not knowing what to do or where to turn. Looking around the special needs egg hunt knowing that he doesn't really belong there. Then casting a glance at the other hunt and realizing that he doesn't really belong there either. The only place he really belongs is here, with us, and with those that understand and love him.

No pressure.