Mother’s thoughts: Why must you melt down every time we come to the grocery store? I hate autism.
Son’s thoughts on experiencing sensory overload: Lights on, off, on, off, on off. Noise. People move. Many people. Stuff. Bright colors. Too much! Eyes hurt. Ears hurt. Head hurts. No. NO. NO!!!
Lynn Messing is the mother of a young man with autism. At some point in his youth she came to realize the reason he hated grocery store outings was that he felt his senses were being assaulted by the flickering fluorescent lights, the bright colours, movements, noises and scents. She then tried to make all grocery store runs when the stores were relatively empty and to make them as quick as possible. She submitted this story this month in honor of World Autism Awareness/Acceptance Day which takes place on April 2nd.
Thank you for sharing and for shining a light onto your son’s experience. Stories help us walk that proverbial mile in another’s shoes, so that we can continue our own journey feeling more empathic and resourceful. xxxxxx
Thank you, JNorland. That is precisely what I hoped to accomplish. If my story saves one child from distress or helps one onlooker realize that that “brat” they see in public might actually be a child who is in sensory overload, then I consider my story a success.
What a clear and compassionate telling, it’s really quite lovely in its understanding and tenderness
Thank you, PMacott. I only wish I had figured out what I believe to be my son’s perspective earlier than I did. He remains functionally nonverbal, so I am still speculating as to his actual thoughts; but the words I put into his fictional counterpart’s mind certainly match both his behavior and what I have learned about sensory processing disorders. (SPDs often, but not always, co-occur with autism.)