the museum meltdown

Published February 13, 2009 by Nancy

Museums seems like a no-brainer for Asperger and PDD kids.

Golly, all those buttons to push, levers to pull, things to see and do!

All those lights. All those sounds. All those colours.

All that stimulation.

I wonder how many other SPD kids get “the museum meltdown.”

We have learned to avoid museums like liver and onions. Sure, everything is fine for the first hour. Then gradually, the storm builds. A little more running around, a little more franticness. Then kaboom, lightning, thunder, gale force winds!

Trying to interfere doesn’t work. It’s like trying to catch a tornado in a fish net. The barometer of his expectations has hit the stratosphere.  No button is good enough, no exhibit works the way he wants it to, the other kids are in the way, can we go back, can we go forward, I don’t want to do this now, I just want to hog this display for the next half hour and the other kids can just rot waiting in line, and no I don’t want to share, can you stop bugging me??

Other parents start to stare.

And we have to physically pick him up and get him out.

We have tried mouth tools, but you aren’t allowed to eat in a museum. We have tried drawing him away to the cafeteria, but easier said than done.

I don’t know what the solution is. But we need to figure it out soon.

Like, in two hours.

We are heading to Ottawa this weekend for Winterlude. Once we’ve skated the canal a few times (it’s durn cold out there now), the kids will be ready to do something indoors.

And there’s a great science museum.

[shudder]

The last time we were at a science museum was Easter. Let’s just say it wasn’t a stellar moment.

But it was exactly when we began our six months of intensive neurofeedback.

We’ve seen great results from neurofeedback. Hope springs eternal.

Is it possible that neurofeedback drove a stake into the heart of the museum meltdown?

We’ll find out…