All The Smells

Time flies quick when you’re busy! Needless to say, I guess it’s time to get back to this blog thing.

We are now a couple years into our ASD diagnosis. This year Jax and I went for a visit to Children’s Hospital to meet with the neurology department. Jaxon walked out with a transient tic diagnosis. Basically little man has a motor tic of rolling his head and a vocal tic of throat clearing and small coughs. Something not entirely uncommon for someone on the spectrum. Over the last year and a half we had seen extended periods of these tics that were not bothersome to him, but extremely noticeable. I am thankful for a child who takes everything in stride and lets most things roll off his back. 

This past weekend we of course had a million and one things going on. Sundays are swimming day. Jaxon is on his way to leveling up and joining swim team. The future is his. Daddy’s treat is to always take us out to lunch afterwards. Another challenging part to Jax’s behavior is that he is a problem eater. So finding something for him to eat is always ‘fun’ and sometimes a little stressful. Our newest phase is deciding that everything he used to like is no longer something he actually likes anymore. Meat meat and more meat is preferable. Something I find super interesting is that smell is huge for him. Nothing goes into his mouth without being smelled and sometimes we get the question of ‘do I like this?’ because he does tend to forget. We successfully were able to eat 5 meatballs and some grilled chicken...I think the fact he wanted dessert is what was the major motivator. 

To say lunch was without a meltdown, would be an abnormal day for us. One part of being a parent of a child with special needs is learning to have thick skin and a lot of patience. It’s true when you see all the quotes that say not to be so quick to judge because you have no real idea what someone is going through. Rewind to 3 years ago and I definitely would have been mortified to have Jaxon losing his mind over not being able to have Dr Pepper. Part of it is him being a typical 7 year old and the other part is him not slowing his mind down enough before he reacts. His fixation and adamant behavior about any given topic, is beyond most people’s comprehension. At the end of the day, I’ve learned that I wouldn’t change anything about him for any single person. I’m used to being stared at now. I’m used to the dirty looks. I’m used to people whispering to the person next to them. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother me, it just means that if it doesn’t bother Jaxon and get a reaction out of him, I too let it roll off my back. But mama llama will come out if the day comes where his feelings are hurt. I’m not a perfect human but I do know that you never know anyone’s struggle or the defeat they’re feeling, until you’ve been in a similar circumstance.