Managing Autism - A Personal View

“Dad, wake up its time for school, its time for school!” Jack shouted. It is about 6.00am, and I am woken from my slumber…. At first I thought I had just watched Nemo one too many times, but soon realised that it was in fact a very excited Jack!

“Come on Dad, I don’t want to be late - get up!”

Here we go, I thought - the emotional rollercoaster that is the first day at school…

First it was the uniform, that we had laid out the night before. Then it was the lunch box, drink bottle, hat, library bag, sandals and finally the school bag. Jack was all dressed, bags packed and ready to go to school…….I looked at the clock in the kitchen - 6.47am!! I did not think that the teachers would appreciate an early arrival at that hour in the morning, so it was time for a little stalling.

“Jack you can’t go to school without breakfast - what will I make for you?”

“I have already had it Dad - see, the bowl is there.”

“Who made that for you mate?” I asked, still a little bleary eyed!

“I did Dad, Mum said yesterday that I could go to school after breakfast, so I got up early and made my own - can we go now?”

I smiled and laughed, and started to explain to Jack that the teachers were only just getting out of bed as well, and that they still needed to get ready - no one would be at school for another couple of hours. Jack laughed, and said that he was really excited, but didn’t want to be at school by himself.

 ”Maybe we should wait for the teachers to arrive before we go,” Jack stated. 

I thought this was a wonderful idea, and explained that I was going to get ready myself, and then we would be ready to go.

I thought that I would have an emotional wreck on my hands with Elissa, but she handled herself extremely well and it was excited smiles all round.

The only time that I detected a tear, was when Annie said ” I will miss you Jackie” - it was a beautiful moment, and hugs all round as we got into the car to go to school.

Of course Jack knew the way, and at one point decided that I was not driving fast enough! We arrived at school and walked in with Jack, and all the other kids with their parents.

Now, being our first child we did not really know what to expect - but you hear all the time about kids are crying and not wanting to leave their parents.

“Love you Mum, Love you Dad, Love you Annie - you go now!” Jack said, as only Jack can say. I knew in that moment that he had really grown up, and was well and truly ready for his adventure at school. Much to his disgust, Elissa, Annie and I did hang around for a little longer watching him settle in.

“I love Ninja Turtles…” were the last words that I heard him say to another little boy as we left.

Elissa contained herself, and the tears didn’t start until we hit the car. “What’s wrong mummy, why are you crying?” asked Annie. A big cuddle from Annie, a few tissues (and coffee and chocolate cake later) and Elissa was feeling better!

Jack had a fantastic day, and according to his teacher did heaps of activities - but if you ask him he says “I can’t remember.” Hopefully in the days, weeks and years ahead, school will be one of the great times for him to remember.

For the record, Jack is excited about going back in the morning, Annie enjoyed her one on one time with Mum, Dad is extremely proud, and Elissa will enjoy a very much deserved glass of wine this evening!

Steve

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 9:13 am and is filed under Jack - School, Dad's View. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.