My nephew is autistic, he is 6 now and just started KG. We don't know if he will be able to stay in "regular" school, but so far so good. Academically, he is doing wonderfully. Socially not so good.
We still deal with fits if something freaks him out. Like a few weeks ago when I was visiting and we were at the mall, a woman with a fur coat walked by, and he was brushed in the face with fur. The feel of the fur freaked him out, and he had a fit in the mall. Everyone was staring, and when my sis tried to help calm him down, she had a woman come up to her and ask "Why can't you control your child? How spoiled is he?". We often deal with rude comments from strangers. Sometimes I think there is little compasion left in the world, too many people want to judge and condemn right away...
I'm thinking its time we have another "Death of Good Manners" thread...that first one was sooooooo good. Being out of work the last two years has made me forget just how outlandishly rude people are--vile. I am in near constant amazement when I'm at work. People will say anything, yet somehow manage to think nothing.
What can we say, except "Bless their hearts," wink wink.
In thinking about it...even if your nephew wasn't autistic--even if he was just some spoiled kid--RUDE WOMAN! Graceless and classless. Bet she voted for Kerry.
That is so horrible. I am the first one to be annoyed with spoiled rotten kids having fits in public places, but and that is a large BUT, there is a major difference between a kid having a fit because he/she is spoiled, and one who does have a problem.........I learned that quickly by watching how the parent/guardian reacts to the fit/tantrum.
The person trying to cope with a child with a problem is going to get empathy from me, and if possible I will stop and offer a hand, such as holding packages or whatever.......the one allowing a child to have a tantrum because it's easier to ignore will be ignored by me.
Jenny had a tantrum at a restaurant when she was about 4 or 5. She had started being able to ask for things like "I want bubble gum". Well for a few months, any time she asked for something, she got it. After 4 years of not hearing her talk at all, she was using a complete sentence.
Anyway, after a few months we started having to say no to her. We went to a soda to pick up some take out food, and Jenny asked for a soda. I didn't have any cash, and had used a credit card to pay for the rest of the food. I certainly was not going to get back in line and use a credit card to get a soda. So I said no (actually probably not this time). Jenny freaked out, and totally lost it. Screaming, kicking, running out of the restaurant. I managed to get her outside of the restaurant, but couldn't get her in my car. I was just sitting on the ground holding her while she was screaming.
Of course, someone managed to make a really nasty comment about her being a brat, and I just whipped back and said "No, she has cerebral palsy!" He shut up real fast.
Of course, my other two kids were sitting next to me perfectly nicely.
Jenny never had a tantrum like that again in public.
When my daughter was very young, I dreaded taking her anywhere. She had meltdowns all the time, very nearly everywhere, and in those days I had no diagnosis so I didn't know it might be bright lights, strange textures, sensitivity to sound--all the things that I later learned were issues for her. And I finally figured out why she would only wear soft clothing, and wanted to wear the same things over and over.