When it was time to wake Emmett, I walked into his room and found him in the fetal position on the floor. Apparently, his tummy hurt and that was the point where things just totally went off the rails.
We worked with Emmett for as long as we could before I had to get Elliott to school.
Did or does Emmett have a tummy ache? That’s a good question and one that’s not easy to answer because of this little thing called Autism.
Emmett very much lacks what’s known as expressive language. This means that he is unable to tell us how he’s feeling or what’s bothering him. He can fumble his way through a conversation and say that he’s happy, sad or excited. He can use the words because he knows what they mean. He can even use them to describe how someone else is feeling but when it comes to himself, he just can’t do it. It just doesn’t click.
When Emmett says tummy ache, that could mean a million and one things. It could mean that something else is hurting him. It could mean that he’s upset, anxious or nervous about something. It could also mean that he has a tummy ache.
There’s no way know.
Neither Elliott or Emmett try to get out of going to school. Part of why Emmett was so upset this morning was because he wanted to go to school so badly but something was wrong and it was labled a tummy ache.
He ended up staying home from school and that required a massive adjustment to our plans for today.
He hasn’t eaten much but has basically been on the couch under a blanket.
We’ve already discussed about how things will be handled in the morning in regards to school. We’ve also taken a few preemptive steps to address things should he actually have a tummy ache.
He had some Miralax this morning to help ensure that things are moving along the way they should be and not causing a traffic jam because that can lead to a tummy ache.
Anyway, we’ve had to be very flexible today in order to not go crazy. Frankly, sometimes it feels like we need to be goddamn contortionists in order have the flexibility required to be special needs parents..
