I find this true in so many ways! A great necklace can really make an outfit or a hug from a child can brighten your day. Children with special needs depend on these little things even more. Their day is crowded with confusing change, growth, challenges and frustration.
So having things they can count on everyday really matters to them. Like a story before bed or how you cut their sandwich. When things these children have come to depend on are different, they can lose it.
Today when Caleb, my son on the autism spectrum, pulled up on his bus he melted down. Most of the time (not all the time) he's the last one to be dropped off. Well today he wasn't. So I had to go and peel a crying 5 year old off the bus and carry him into the house where he continued to insist that he needed to get back on the bus and wait for his turn. Thankfully, an hour later he calmed down.
I know many parents try to keep routines for their children with special needs and I do to, to an extent. But I also change things up quite a bit to try and help him learn to cope with change in a controlled environment. These efforts have made a very noticeable difference in how Caleb copes with events that don't fit his concept of "right." So for the most part we're okay when things come up but then days like today remind me that he does have his own little things that I don't even realize that are important to him. Like being last one off the bus.
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