Tomorrow is a big day for our entire class. Mrs. Smith announced that we will be welcoming a new student to our room. His name is Andrew. She said that he had something named Autism. I'm not sure what that is, but I don't think that it's contagious.

She told us that Andrew might smell his food before eating or repeat himself a lot.  Repeating himself wouldn't bother me at all  because my little brother, Austin repeats himself all the time.

Today is here and I couldn't get to school any faster.  I sat in my seat quietly waiting to meet this kid named Andrew with Autism.  Fortunately, we didn't have to wait long because in walked Andrew holding Mrs. Smith's hand. 

"Good morning, class.  I would like for you all to meet Andrew," said Mrs. Smith.

We excitedly introduced ourselves and took our seats. Andrew was assigned the desk next to mine. I secretly glanced at him because I wanted to see how Autism looked up close.

The bell for recess rang and we all lined up for a few minutes of fresh air. I loved recess. Andrew was standing against the gate by himself watching the other kids play. He looked like he wanted to join in.

So, Marcus, Sean, and I walked over to invite him to play catch with us.  "Hi, my name is Kevin and these two knuckleheads are Marcus and Sean.  Would you like to play catch with us?  In an almost robotic tone, Andrew replied, "Yes, Andrew wants to play catch with Kevin and the knuckleheads."  We all looked at each other and laughed really hard.

It's amazing how much you can learn from and about a person in five days. I learned that Andrew wore braids because his hearing was super sensitive to certain noises. He was obsessed with cars and electronics. In fact, he loved cars so much that he was able to identify people by the cars that they drove.

At the end of the school week Andrew would leave class for speech and occupational therapy. One day while Andrew was in therapy, Mrs. Smith brought in a short documentary about Autism for us to watch. She wanted us to better understand Andrew's diagnosis. Through Andrew I learned the importance of being nice to one another.

It's Not A Temper Tantrum, It's A Meltdown

We all stood by the window watching the rain fall from the sky.  I was silently praying for it to stop within the next five minutes.  That way we could still have recess.  As luck would have it the rain didn't stop.  I knew that Andrew wasn't happy about this.  He loved to go outside.  He was even getting better at playing catch.  He didn't aim the ball at Marcus's head anymore.

Mrs. Smith brought in a few toys for us to play with. They belonged to her son Matthew when he was a kid. Sean, Marcus, and I played with the wrestling action figures. A kid named Peter played with the toy car, leaving Andrew no choice but to play with a train. The entire class knew how Andrew felt about cars, including Peter. But Peter was the type to do things just to annoy others.

I even tried to trade him the Hulk Hogan wrestling figure for the car. Peter wasn't having it though. "May I play with the car?" asked Andrew. "No!" screamed Peter. Andrew began to cry uncontrollably. Mrs. Smith immediately walked over to us. "What's going on over here?" she asked. "Andrew is throwing a tantrum because I won't let him play with the car," replied Peter.

Mrs. Smith separated us from Andrew and waited for him to calm down. She then took the car from Peter and gave it to Andrew. But not before explaining to Peter why she was giving Andrew the car. "Peter, Andrew isn't throwing a tantrum. He is experiencing a meltdown."

The difference between a meltdown and a tantrum is that tantrums eventually cease once the child gets what he or she wants. It's normally attention that the child is seeking. Meltdowns can't be controlled because it's not done purposely.

It normally began when a specific want has not been permitted and after a certain point it becomes almost impossible for someone to satisfy the child. It has to run its course. "Our responsibility is to be considerate and patient with one another," said Mrs. Smith.

Peter was upset at first.  But he later lightened up and actually started being nicer to all of us.  Through this incident we not only learned about meltdowns, but empathy as well.  I tell you that Andrew will teach you something new every day.

Sensory Processing

Disorder

I am so happy that I overcame my fear of going to a new school. Mom was right when she said that I was going to like school. Everybody was very nice to me. I even made three new friends named Michael, Sean, and Kevin. They even taught me how to toss a ball and didn't get upset when I couldn't catch it. Kevin even told me that I'll get better the more that we played.

For lunch we had cheese pizza.  It used to be my favorite, until today that is.  I didn't have to taste it to know that it was horrible. I took one whiff and my eyes began to water from the smell alone.  "Andrew, can I have your pizza since you're not eating it?" asked Sean.  "Yes," I replied.  They were all puzzled as to why I chose not to eat it. Autism has many characteristics. 

Sensory happens to be one of them.  My senses are extremely sensitive.  I can smell things with faint aromas from miles away. 

I convinced Mom to let me bring my Nintendo DSI to school for show and tell.  Mrs. Smith wanted us to bring our favorite toy to school and trade with another kid for the day.  I traded with Kevin for his iPad.  He was shocked by my high score in Super Mario Brothers.  He said that his  brother was really good, too.  However, he was nowhere near my level on the game. 

"Andrew, can you show me how to get on the same level?"  asked Kevin.  Then, I unleashed my secret method. 

I clicked on You Tube from his iPad and searched for people playing Super Mario Brothers.  He looked puzzled until he noticed that I was using their strategies. 

The day was coming to an end and it was story time before dismissal. I loved story time.  Mrs. Smith read a book named, "No, David" to the class. It was very quiet while she read. Then all I could hear was click, click, click, click.  I tried to block out the sound. 

The more that I tried to block it the more it became unbearable. Again, my senses were at an all time high. It felt like someone was hammering a nail directly into my ear drum.

I pressed both hands over my ears to suppress the noise. But even that didn't help. All of the sudden I felt extremely hot and I was slightly losing my breath. Kevin noticed me and raised his hand to get Mrs. Smith's attention. She immediately noticed the kid behind me lightly tapping his pencil on the desk. She asked him to stop.

Mrs. Morris walked over to us and rubbed my back in a calming manner until I began to feel normal again. She later explained to the class that what I was experiencing was a mild panic attack. She even explained how sensitive the ears could be for a child with Autism.

Overall, it was a good day. What my class witnessed is labeled "Sensory Processing Disorder". This is a condition when the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses. Common sounds could be painful or overwhelming. It feels good to have others see and learn things from my point of view.

The sun was beaming extremely hard.  We were barely able to find shade under the tree.  Andrew, Peter, Sean, Marcus, and I stood and watched the girls play jump rope.  Yes, I did mention Peter.  Peter had become our friend after the whole Andrew meltdown.  But don't worry because I have my eyes on him.

"Man, this is boring," complained Peter. We all pretty much agreed. "Yuck, nobody wants to see a bunch of girls with cooties jumping up and down!" agreed Marcus. My big brother said I will feel different about girls once I got older. I highly doubt that. Girls are annoying.

"Hey, I have an idea," said Peter.  We all waited for him to share the idea with us.  But he walked over to Andrew and whispered something in his ear.   Next thing we knew Andrew took off running towards the girls playing jump rope. 

Before we could react we saw Andrew being chased by Melissa and Allison. "Give us back our rope!!!!!" they both screamed.

"Peter, what did you tell him to do?" asked Sean angrily. He was standing so close to Peter's face that I was almost certain that he was about to clock him. At that point I secretly wished that he did. Peter just laughed and said, "I told him to snatch their rope and run." At that point we had to pull Sean away from him.