Dear Addie,
Exposure is key. Ah yes, the most complicated yet most valuable advice we were given as we entered this journey. Exposing you to what can be a triggering world is physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting with almost every step you take. The lights, sounds, smells, movement - processing all of this can be overwhelming. Heck, even wearing shoes can be a struggle! Hands down, you will always prefer to be barefoot as you tend to walk better, feeling the ground with your bare feet, which I have heard is a prevalent thing within this community, and some have described wearing shoes as a feeling of floating or a gravitational challenge. Now add in some of the not-so-patient public that is always out there, and it can feel like you are center stage on opening night and have forgotten all your lines. Fear, panic, and anxiety can happen in a matter of minutes; if proper coping skills are not developed and practiced, it can make for a dangerous scenario rather quickly with fight or flight response. So yeah, exposure is key, but that is really quite hard too.
Unlike most, lets say, neurotypical kiddos, summer does not necessarily mean a complete break for you, but no worries, there is still plenty of fun to be had😉 Sure, the traditional schooling regime is on hold, but therapy is often kicked up a few notches during this time. Which brings us to this week, where you headed out with our beloved therapist Ms. Caitlin (and a sibling or two) to dive into some serious community therapy.
You visited local stores, a public pool (remember seven years ago how this blog started from an incident at the neighborhood pool, but I digress), the mall, restaurants, and even a bakery. Now you did great through all of this, but of course, there is still plenty of practice ahead of us; nevertheless, you rocked it and showed good coping right through every sensory assault that presented itself, which brings me to the next part in all this. You see, Addie, when kiddos like yourself are presented with such a rigorous day of processing, decompression is often necessary to help regulate their nervous system that was just bombarded with input. There is no right or wrong activity for this; it can look like many different things that help their bodies feel at peace and grounded again. From jumping to weighted blankets, swimming, to playing with putty, most often, it is however time spent alone. For you, it’s swinging and not just any swinging, but Olympic height, extended period of time type swinging. The wind in your face, the pumping of your legs, the drop of your stomach, the view from up high, the rhythmic back-and-forth motion for hours on end (legit, you were out for over two hours the other day) – it is everything you need to feel grounded again, which I find Ironic because you are far from being on the ground.
Addie, living in a triggering world is difficult, but we are very proud of how well you are learning to navigate it all. Keep working hard, baby girl, and swing as long as you need to. You're doing great!
Love,
Mom
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