Plans curtailed

So, our busy week proved to be "too" busy. I was afraid that might happen. Wednesday afternoon I drove up to Morgan's school to pick her up and her "main" teacher was waiting there with her. I thought "uh oh, this can't be good." The assistant teachers usually take the kids out to the buses/parents. I knew something was up.

It turns out that on Tuesday and Wednesday Morgan had some serious crying/screaming fits in class. She has never done this before at the district school. I was glad to hear that the teacher thought this was "out of character" for Morgan, but I fear this may start an unfavorable trend. Apparently the meltdowns are focused around their "circle time" where they sit and sing songs. Usually Morgan LOVES circle time and will sing us the songs they sing. In her Monday "typical" class she's always the first one on the rug.

Since we found out that there was going to be a "performance" of sorts we've been asking her what songs they are singing. Each time she says "no" and refuses to sing. So, now she's refusing to participate at school. So, yesterday we agreed to see what happens. I mentioned that we were having a busy week and we'd make sure she got a good night's sleep. Do you think she somehow felt the pressure of preparing for the event?! Could she be that intuitive?

So, we decided not to attend the Autism Society meeting last night. Morgan took a nice nap and had a great night's sleep last night (no wake-ups). She went off to school just fine. I went to pick Morgan up today and again, the teacher was there. No dice. She freaked out again today, maybe worse than the other two days. When it was time for circle time she threw herself on the floor and yelled "NO CIRCLE TIME!" Yikes. The teacher gave her choice of circle time or sit in a chair. She sat in the chair and cried, but was frequently given the option to return to circle time. She refused. Then when they took to other kids outside Morgan had to stay inside and do "something" related to circle time with the teacher. The teacher does not let the kids get away with not participating and make sure they participate in some way. She managed to get her to sit down and sing one song with her. On the way out to the playground Morgan kept trying to escape, saying "I need to use the potty." Apparently this is a way she's learned to avoid circle time this week. They'd take her to the potty and she wouldn't use it, it was just an excuse to get away. The teacher did not fall for that today and made her go out to the playground.

So, she basically encouraged us not to attend the event tonight. She said this for behavior reasons. She thought that if Morgan had a meltdown on stage we would have to remove her, and that would reinforce the bad behavior. I essentially agree with this, but it's still hard not to question it. We have no idea how Morgan would react to the situation, a new place she's never been, bright lights and a ton of kids singing at once. Probably not the best scenario anyway.

I'm sad about it. I LOVED this stuff as a kid (though I'm not sure if I would have participated at age 3.5?). I was really looking forward to watching her with her class and videotaping it. These are the times I feel really left out of the "neuro-typical" kid world. Why do those other parents get to watch their kid participate and I don't? I feel sad for Morgan too, though it probably really doesn't matter to her.

There was going to be cake afterwards too. She would have loved that.