Thursdays with Jessica

Jessica is 6 years old. She told me a few months ago that she wanted to take ballet lessons. After she told me, she did her version of a pirouette. It broke my heart because this is the first activity that she has actually asked to do, and also because if you saw the pirouette you would agree she needed some lessons :-)

I signed her up at the local YMCA, figuring it wouldn't be like one of those high pressure dancing schools that my town is littered with. One of the Moms I met during this whole experience told me that she had her daughter at one of those local dancing schools. After informing the dance teacher that her sons confirmation and her daughters dance recital was the same day, the dance teacher promptly asked her to reschedule the confirmation. That is why her daughter is at the 'Y' now.

Our first class (and the hour leading up to the first class) was a success. Jessica was eager to get dressed in her leotard, tights, and skirt. She went right into the class, and did great...well her version of great. I had wrestled with the idea of telling the teacher before Jessica started the class, that she had Autism. I decided against it, thinking that I would wait to see how she did before I showed my hand. About half way through the class, the girls filed out down the hall for a water break. It was quite a sight because the were all wearing their new tap shoes all the while trying to steady their gait.
The teacher came out, and made a beeline for me.
"Is this Jessica's first dance class?" Miss Angie asked.
"Yes!" I blurted out.
"She is doing great."
"She has Autism" I screamed...well I didn't scream so much as I released the words from my mouth.
"I KNEW it!" she said.

The way she said that last line was so positive, it made me know immediately that this was a lady that 'got it'.

Jessica finished out the first class without a problem. Well, except for the part where she told me she wasn't coming back next week...ugh

Week 2 came, and Jessica was in hysterics getting dressed for dance class. It was hard because I knew she liked the class, but the anticipation of going there sent her over the edge. Normally if we were going someplace, I wouldn't tell her until we got there. But with dance class there really isn't a choice because I have to get her in her dance attire.
Basically, there was about 60 minutes of screaming and crying before we even got in the car.
Like I suspected though, she went into class and had a great time.
Another crisis averted.

So now we are on week 3 of dance class today. I thought ahead and purchased a little cat ballerina stuffed toy for her. I was hoping that the reward would make her want to go. It worked like a charm.
She went into class, and did fine. Well, except for all the time she spent looking in the mirror making funny faces and sticking out her tongue while the other girls learned first position.

This day we had a doctors appointment immediately after dance class. Jessica has been having some ear infections lately, and this was just an ear check. Everything went well until she found out she was getting only one Spongebob sticker instead of 3. Normally I let her grab as many stickers as she wants (3 is what she always picks). But the doctors office is undergoing some construction, so the stickers are kind of hidden. The NP that saw Jessica today is nice, but she is a little tough. So when she told Jessica only 1 sticker, I didn't want to look like the push over mother. Well, this started a fit of hysterics that could have rivaled Nancy Kerrigan right after she got her knee bashed in by Tonya Hardings cohorts.
She screamed all the way out the door, in the parking lot, and in the car. I had my windows down, and as we were stopped at a red light I got looks of horror from all the cars that surrounded me. Jessica was screaming that she needed 3 stickers, and that she didn't want the sticker she had. She then started screaming that her brain hurt and that her heart was going to explode. I felt so bad because I knew that this was her form of an anxiety attack. An anxiety attack that happened because she got the wrong number of stickers.

To a typical kid they want 3 stickers because they are greedy. Ok, well that is not completely accurate, but you know what I mean. To Jessica, 3 stickers is what is "right" in her brain. She wasn't being greedy, she was just trying to do something that made sense to her.

So Thursdays with Jessica have not been easy, but hey....I wouldn't know what to do if anything in my life was easy!

P.S......I forgot to mention that Jessica likes echoes. In the basement hall of the YMCA today, she screams out "Where is old man Jenkins?"
Who Old Man Jenkins is, I have no idea.