I write in the entry above that we had to take her into the world. Well we did and it was hard, very hard. A child with so many sensory issues like Elizabeth has made her cry so much that I could never guess how an outing might turn our. But there were the times after she started therapy for SPD, that the trip to the library was a success or the trip to the store was without tears. I think my advice to someone who is just starting on their journey or to someone who has a child with any special needs is to set the bar kind of low at first. I remember needing about 1500 things at the store but getting the basics only. It was quicker, Elizabeth could do well for that time frame and when we were done we all felt so successful and that great feeling just lifts you up to do it again. To shedule too much is to just ask for a bad experience and for some reason those are harder to forget and tend to overshadow the next attempts at an outing.

I think as I reread the previous sentence I may need to add that you cannot blame yourself when an outing goes badly, it is nearly impossible to try to anticipate all the variables your child may encounter. I know I used to try to control the outing,like who talked to Elizabeth, who touched her and then out of the blue something would occur that I had not thought of…like the time the packer at a grocery store pushed our cart out with Elizabeth still in it, as I am sure he had done a gazillion times without thought but in our case I was not watching him and with my hand still on her, he began to manuever the cart to go to our car.Well of course, Elizabeth began screaming and I was left to patch up the problem, get her out of the cart and try to get her in a car seat….so I offer out to those who struggle…just do your best but be kind to yourself because no one knows what you live except you, so take a moment and try not to be too hard on yourself! See you for more!!!!