Children’s Theater update
I just realized that I haven’t updated on the situation at Children’s Theater. Props to the teacher, who although he has no experience whatsoever with teaching autistic kids, is being very active in finding out what works to keep Em engaged. He’s asked me for advice on several occasions, shared what’s worked for him, and generally stayed very on the ball. This week we decided that it might be helpful to have a copy of the script (a little three page Shel Silverstein poem with people reciting bits) so that I could run lines with her. And he did have it for me by the end of class, with her parts highlighted.
She had a great week last week, but today was, according to her, “not perfect.” The teacher said that at one point she burst out crying for no apparent reason. The word “apparent” is key there, as of course there’s always a reason. It’s just a reason with a subtle trigger, and she may not tell you in the heat of the moment. The reason, she told me in the car, was “these lines are too hard.”
The teacher, however, immediately said, “raise your hand if you think Emily’s a good actor” and all the hands shot up. “Raise your hand if you want Emily to be your best friend” and all the hands shot up. He relayed this to me, rightly proud of himself and the kids. Em did recover.
Em seems to like going to class, and doesn’t ask “when can I stop going?” as she sometimes has with other activities. So a bad situation was turned around nicely.
Thanks for your support, folks. I’ll let you all know when she wins her first Tony so you can say you knew her when.