Serenity

Life in general is full of unknowns or uncertainties. Thus, everyone has a different way of handling the stress/anxiety of life. Many children like M have trouble managing life stresses. In fact such feeling of worry, nervousness or unease can strike at any time. An major event such as going to school or something with an uncertain outcome like going shopping in general can create stress/anxiety. Therefore, creating a daily picture schedule is important. This has helped M in processing daily expectations and reduction of stress level. However, even with the best laid out plan/routine things happen. On one particular day, M had a wonderful morning without any issues. We attended a meeting with M everything was going well. Until all of a sudden M fell onto the floor covering eyes. In that moment my detective mom side was on duty. Yes, some bystanders did not understand what was happening. As I looked around to better understand M sudden mood change, I noticed one of the fluorescent light bulb was flickering in the room. Bingo, M was experiencing sensory stress/anxiety aka meltdown. I quickly hit the switch to cut the lights out. Of course, a bystander tried to switch light back on but I explained my reason. Once the lights were off, I calmly talked to M. After the perceived stress had passed, M started self-regulating habit of humming in order to get to calmness. Moments like this with M taught me the importance of not only staying calm but instilling serenity skills into M.

Simply an autism mom learning