As a mother of a child with special needs, I have spent so much of Elizabeth’s life thinking about places we are going and how to make them work for her. People we are going to meet and do they already know how to talk to her ( just like everyone else) or do they understand her trepidations.

Her SPD has made her afraid of so many things so very early on in life,  I am sure so many people just thought she was a very unfriendly, cranky child.  They would try to talk to her or reach out to her to try something and then Elizabeth would respond in a way lead by her fear…she would pull away and cry.

Her dyspraxia would make doing something even if she wanted to too difficult, so the word “NO” would be heard or if not heard.  The head shaking back and forth and the pulling away generally got the point across.

And trust me, it is not like I could not understand how it would all seem/look to a person who would encounter Elizabeth for the first times. Continue reading →