A Day in the Life of Cade: Sensory Struggles

Cade is a snuggly, sweet boy. He starts every morning by crawling into bed next to me. Full of joy, he has a spark in his eyes and a spring in his step. He is my joy. He also struggles with sensory processing issues. He feels things stronger than most. He reacts in a dramatic fashion to minor things. He has learned to manage his struggles much better, but sometimes they erupt and meltdowns ensue. Cade had a rough week last week. The minor meltdowns grew into an eruption on Wednesday. The spark was his eye itched. I wasn't there, but I can picture what happened. I picture him rubbing his eye and then going into full meltdown mode. His body collapses like a puppet whose strings have been cut. He then becomes stiff like a petrified piece of wood. The stares of his classmates pierce his consciousness, and he begins to scream out for them to stop staring. They look away. It is then circle time, and Cade is still worked up. He crawls under a bean bag in an attempt to calm himself down. Being covered and having weight on him really helps. A question is asked, and Cade's hand emerges from beneath the bean bag. His sweet teacher calls on him like nothing is out of the ordinary. He correctly answers (he is very bright). Next up is art class. Cade is still agitated. He begans to pace and pace and pace at the back of the classroom. He becomes more and more upset as his classmates watch his nervous pacing. Meltdown. He goes to the fabulous counselor's office and this is when I get the call. We discuss some calming techniques for him. I decide that it is a good day for lunch with him. He is thrilled to see me. We sit with some of his friends. The kids in his class are so sweet and kind. Cade is truly blessed to be around such wonderful kids. I talk some to Cade about what happened. One of the sweet girls has this nugget of wisdom for him, "Well Cade, if you didn't do crazy things then we wouldn't stare at you." My sweet boy. Hopefully this week is better.