Elliott is really struggling with anxiety right now. He held it together at school but completely feel apart at bedtime last night.
He was just sobbing and sobbing.
He’s so stressed out about so many things, I don’t even know where to begin with trying to help him.
My sister made an honest mistake, and truthfully, it wasn’t really a mistake. When Elliott was in the Hamptons last weekend, he found this little knick knack that he wanted. My sister promised him that she would pick it up for him and send it in the mail.
The problem was that was store was over an hour away and she works during the week.
She made the trip and picked it up but couldn’t mail it right away because of work and the hours of the post office there.
Elliott has been beside himself with anticipation over this thing. Tonight, everything came to a head and he just had a little anxiety attack. He was just purging emotion and I decided he should call his aunt Kate and just talk to her about this explain how important it is to him.
Kate feels absolutely horrible. She had no idea he was this upset.
She’s going to FedEx this $6 little thing sometime today. She’ll text me the track number so Elliott can see where it is at all time until it arrives.
Kate did nothing wrong. She was trying to do something nice but simply didn’t understand the level of anxiety and anticipation he would experience until it arrived.
I think that part of this is the fact that he misses her as well.
Thankfully, she’s moving back hoe next month and we’ll all be able to see her more often.
This just goes to show why awareness is soooooo important. Kids on the autism spectrum, tend to not do well in these types of situations. Anticipation and anxiety are not their friends.
This has inspired today’s #Autism Discussion. Stay tuned for that. It should be showing up here shortly.
This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsungs Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct hate me.
Please join our Autism Help Forums
Look for “Autism Help” app at the Google Play Store
Well, we are waiting for 2 DVDs, and the anxiety level is very high. Fortunately, except for one giant meltdown on Monday, because there was no mail, she keeps busy "getting ready" for their arrival, 'cleaning" up her room, etc. so all will be ready when they do arrive. While I think the anticipation should be fun, for her it really is quite painful and anxiety-provoking.
Rob, I can so so so so relate to this post. I also get "anxious" (somewhat) about things arriving in the mail. I get so excited once I know they are coming. I tend to track packages when I can, which I find helpful. This has gotten better, the anxiety of things arriving, as I have gotten older. But for example, birthday presents can be hard, because I like predictability, I would rather know what I am going to get, and pick it out, if that makes any sense. So birthdays, and holidays can cause some anxiety. Let me know if I can help with any other insight into this. I would be happy too. I would say just show Elliot that the package is coming, via tracking it. Also letting him know that you know waiting is hard for him but you are very proud of him for trying so hard, as you know he was very excited to receive this package.
@Chloe123 That reminds me. I'm really sorry for the delay in the mail. The kids have drawn pictures but with everything going on, I forgot to mail them. I'm sorry about that.
@lostandtired It is okay you are fine! Like I said, I handle these things so much better now! And getting the mail is one of my favorite activities. Mail surprises are kind of one of my favorite things these days. LOL Don't worry about it! 🙂