Courageous Kids
I read a fabulous article yesterday, titled “Courageous kids on film“. It caught my attention because the first line of the article made a statement about it taking ’courage’ to face the world with Aspergers Syndrome.
The article then went on to outline the launch of a short film highlighting and celebrating the stories of children with the condition. The film came as a result of a number of workshops that were held to investigate some of the challenges that Aspergers kids face.
I was delighted to think that such a film had been produced. I have posted before about the need to highlight and celebrate the wonderful things about our kids with autism spectrum disorders, and this film is definitely a wonderful contribution to raising positive awareness in our society.
On that note, I’d like to share a story of Jack’s courage recently - not a big ground breaking moment for most kids, but for Jack, it was huge…
Jack had his final orientation day at school last week, in preparation for next year. The first 2 orientation days had been really successful; they had been for around 2 hours a visit, and although there were a few challenging moments, Jack had coped really well with everything going on around him.
The evening before his final orientation day Steve and I had been to a meeting at the school for a final rundown on some of the details for next year. During this meeting we discovered that although we had requested Jack be placed in a class with his Kinder friend, they had been placed in separate classes (a little boy who he had been very attached to during the ‘getting ready for school’ process, and whose presence we felt would help Jack make a smooth transition to school). So the trip home for Steve and I was filled with anxiety as we contemplated how we would break the news.
Jack was devastated with news, as we had anticipated. After the tantrum, and the ’hurt’ and ’sad’ tears, we had ‘angry’ tears, with the question asked continually ”why would they do this to me?”. I struggled to fight the tears myself and for a while he just let me cuddle him to me like a baby. He was scared, and I was feeling scared for him. Steve (thank goodness he is very practical) managed to bring the focus back to the more positive things about the day to come, and finally we got him to sleep.
The next morning went quite quickly, getting ready for school. We were finally ready to go when I discovered Jack had gone missing. Annie and I searched the house, only to find him hiding under a table - the news had hit him again, and he didn’t want to go. So we spent a while talking, and I convinced him that even though he wouldn’t be in the same room as his friend, it might be worth still giving school a go. Ten minutes later and we were in the car, and off to school.
This is where Jack’s moment of courage comes in. We arrived at the school, me feeling sick to the stomach with anxiety, and Jack quite subdued. We got out of the car, and Jack turned to me and said, “It doesn’t matter Mum, it’ll be okay, I can play with …. at our break time”. My eyes filled with tears under my sunglasses as he let me hug him. At that moment I was very proud. As I said above, not a ground breaking moment for most kids, but a huge moment of courage for Jack.
Elissa 
PS - We would love to hear about other fabulous moments of ASD courage…..
Oh, and yes, Jack’s day went well - and he did seek out his friend at break time.
December 10th, 2007 at 4:22 am
That does show a lot of courage. What a sweetheart. Having your buddy in another class is always difficult.
December 10th, 2007 at 4:36 am
Hmmmm….my comment came up as if I was Maizie. Sorry about that. I am sure you know it was me and not her!:)
December 10th, 2007 at 4:42 am
Thanks Marla!
December 10th, 2007 at 7:36 am
What a brave boy, as an adult I find it difficult going into new situations.What a hero.
December 10th, 2007 at 9:49 am
Well done Jack!
I think my C is courageous all the time!!!
December 10th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
I am finally catching up on my blog reading! The Prince showed great courage, just last week. His kindergarten class was selected to say the pledge at a faculty basketball game (teachers from one elementary school played another as a fund-raiser).
Well, he had practiced and practiced and was very excited. But the event was not well organized. There was a crowd at the door, no line or order, and they were not letting people in, though we were told to be there early. It was noisy, confusing, an ASD child’s nightmare. Then, out of nowhere, my son’s teacher swooped in, grabbed our son, and left us there. The teacher came back, taking each child in, leaving the parents.
When we finally got in, our son was inconsolable. He was afraid they were “taking him away from us” and just did not understand though his sweet little friends were trying to explain. He calmed down, his class went to the staging area and we made sure our son could see us.
Then he walked out with the class and did the pledge perfectly. For us, he was so brave. Just to be in the loud gym, walk in line, and say the pledge would have been miraculous, to us. But to do it, after the utterly upsetting and confusing start to the evening was even more amazing.
We didn’t stay for the game. But we are so proud of our boy!
Katherine
December 10th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Thanks everyone for your messages!
Katherine - that is definitely a very courageous moment!!!
xx
December 11th, 2007 at 12:27 am
The Elder got a shot today. Nuff said.
December 15th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Oh this made me fill with tears. What a brave boy indeed (and oh what a rotten school to put him in that position!
)