The best way to face any challenge is head on, at least in
theory.
As preparation for camp, mom made sure I had a lavender bath
Sunday night and that I went to bed at a good time. Unfortunately, I was so
worked up I still could not sleep and ended up keeping her up most of the night
too.
Monday morning finally got here and the anticipation was
made worse when we had to drop my brother off at his camp 30 minutes before me.
So we sat. And I was anxious. What if it was noisy? Would I have any friends?
Would they like me? Would it be too loud? Would it be fun? What if I could not
handle the music? Would the teacher be nice?
And then, it was time.
Mom took me in to meet Ms. Beth. She was in charge of the
art and she already was aware of my sensory processing disorder from what mom
told me. When I met her she seemed nice; there was a lot of stuff going on in
the art room, but that is how art rooms are supposed to be. I told Ms. Beth
that this was the first time I was doing anything without my mom besides going
to school or kids church. I think she noticed I was nervous.
After I got to see the art room, we went to the music room
where everybody was waiting to start the day. Ms. Jackie was in there. I met a
couple of the kids, but I was a little shy and stayed to myself at first. I did
relax some, to the point that I did not realize mom had left until after we
started our art project of the day.
When I mom picked me up I was happy to share that I made a
friend and we had a couple things in common. I really enjoyed art! We painted
pottery pieces with *Spots Pots Mobile Pottery*. Music was a little hard for me
because it was loud and it hurt my head.
Tuesday morning when mom took me to camp she spoke with Ms.
Jackie and let her know about my sensory processing disorder. She understood
and told me that if it got too loud to just let her know and she would let me
sit in her office. It really felt GREAT having a teacher understand my needs.
The anxiety subsided after Tuesday and while there were
still some sensory issues going on, things went great. It was really difficult
for me to not eat the salt that we were using to make texture with on one of
our paintings. It felt so odd, too.
The best thing of camp was that I made two friends; one
wanted to stay in touch and made sure my mom had his dad’s information. I
thought that was cool. Plus, I want to do it again next year! It was fun. Camp
is not as scary as I thought it would be.
We also got to have an art show and a concert to show our family and friends what all we did this past week. It was fun. Mom and Dad got to see me sing and play an instrument or two. That was so cool.
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These past two posts may not seem like much, but for those that know Benji you know how taxing it is for him to adjust to something different. He absolutely hates change. In a realization this week, because of me always being there and helping him when his SPD flares up, I have caused Benji to grow up in a sheltered bubble. He is not one of those children that always gets his way and such, it is just a matter of his experiences have been limited because as his mom I have been concerned, afraid, terrified, whatever to let the chips fall where they may. True, he is only eight, there is nothing wrong with your child being a child. Lord knows too many kids grow up way to fast these days anyway. All I am saying is that, my eyes were opened along with Benji's. - Benji's mom
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