Last night saw me return to my Zumba class after a month break
for the summer holidays. My head and
feet were all over the place trying to remember the routines again!! Our teacher tends to do different dances each
week to mix it up but after a month away it felt like I was a beginner again. I’m
far from the best at coordination, but generally I can do the moves in my own
way! Last night I kept getting the steps
wrong and was frustrated with myself.
Whilst dancing I had a light bulb moment - this could be how my 2 ASD children feel
when they are doing simple tasks whether it’s learning to make a bed or
remembering they have everything for school. I'm always giving constant
reminders - verbally or visually to help them and have to do it week in
week out as certain things don't seem to sink in. I consider myself to be patient,
but last night made me realise that everyone needs to be more understanding with
people with ASD. I know by next week I
will get back into the swing of Zumba again. Unfortunately my children may need
me to repeat instructions or show them how to do things for weeks, months or
years. It’s not their fault, just their
brain processing things in a different way. Both our ASD children have an excellent
long term memory for detail and our daughter seems to be fortunate to have a
photographic memory. If you ask either of them what I just said, they will have
no idea or if I tell them to brush their teeth I guarantee it won't be done
until I've asked several times then taken them into the bathroom and shown them
their toothbrush. All they hear is ‘teeth’ and have no idea what they are meant
to do with them.
This has been a reality check and made me appreciate how
much effort our ASD children must go through each day to complete simple things that the majority of us take for granted. This
week will be a challenge for them both with the return to school tomorrow, but
my visual and verbal aids are at the ready.
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