The Effects of Bullying...

Today was day # 5 of school, my first email to the asst. principal (AP), and my son's first absence from school. He called me at 11:00 to be picked up due to his terrible back ache. (See number 2 in this previous post...) At first I was concerned that he had some bladder, kidney, boy part, I don't know what kind of injury from today's bullying event. After talking to him, I thought he was just shaken up and encouraged him to get through the day. Absences are very hard for him and he misses frequently due to various things. Therefore, I try to keep him there once he gets there. I told him to march directly across the hall to visit the AP to discuss the bullying thus far this year. He said, ok mom...and was off. At 2:00 the nurse called again. Brennan asked me to puleeeez pick him up, cuz his back, feet, ankles, etc. etc. were hurting to badly for him to finish the day. I had almost finished my work day and didn't have to be at my internship for 2 hours...so I went to pick him up. I had a 'comfort' conversation with him...letting him talk a lot...discussing what happened, reassuring him that he is fabulous and that I love him no matter what...during this conversation he said..."I love PE" followed by, "I hate PE"

The Mr and I have discussed taking him out of PE, but the socialization and physical activity is so necessary for him. After this week I am wondering if the risks outweigh the benefits. My son confirmed that he loves PE and all the activity...he loves that he feels more awake after all that movement...he loves being with regular kids...he hates bullies...he hates being hurt...he hates being humiliated...he hates being laughed at...at this point my heart breaks, I rub his soft hair, and tell him it's going to be ok. At this point, I wish I knew in my heart that it will be.

The Star of the Blog

My sonshine started tennis yesterday...and did quite well. Many Aspie's suffer from low muscle tone, coordination difficulties and sensory problems that can make sports a non option in their lives. Over the course of Brennan's life, he tried soccer...in which he loved being the goalie, as long as goalies could sit down, play with dandelions, and yell hi mom every once in a while. He tried baseball...he actually did pretty well here, but he hated it and every game and practice was a fight to get him to go and once we got there to get him to stay. He tried basketball too and made great strides in his game. The problem with basketball is, the kids were VERY competitive and VERY relentless when letting a less than athletic kid try to learn the game. He had a high school kid for an assistant coach who took him under his wing and actually taught him how to shoot. That was nice. The coach however, lost interest in him after about 4 nanoseconds. Too bad coaches can't have some lessons in accepting all children at all levels. (Sorry to generalize here...Brennan had a great baseball coach, who whenever I see him, I still admire all that he did for my son and how he accepted him as he was.) Then he tried swimming...and experienced a lot of success here, in fact he completed all levels, is a great swimmer and will get his life guarding certificate next summer. He tires quickly while swimming, but participates without too much complaining and underneath, I think he likes it. We are so fortunate that our park district has extensive services for kids with special needs. Finally tennis...he started tennis last year for the first time. Ummmm....did I mention that Aspie's often have severe fears....like that of rain, wind, and thunderstorms? Brennan has a terrible fear of storms. In comes tennis...it is THE most fair weather sport of em all...if there's a chance of rain...they say no lessons! Ahhhhhhh....this is the sport for my boy! He is learning all of the appropriate 'tennis moves' and is doing quite well really. He currently has a collapsed arch in one of his feet that causes him a lot of pain when he's running on it...looking for a surgical fix for that one soon, however...currently he loves tennis!




I as the mama love to see him outside, chatting happily with new found friends and not experiencing any discouragement. That is a joy of summer.

Infancy

Welcome to blog #2...this blog is purely in it's infancy stage...This blog however, has a specific purpose...to blog about aspies...in general and my aspie in particular. If you don't know what an aspie is...it's a person, that has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome (more on that later) -- Stay tuned...