Today with Autism Goggles - Day 4

* You might want to read today's normal entry first before reading my thoughts today through the autism goggles.

"Though she be but little, she is fierce!"

This morning was pretty extreme…  The bouncing, the jerking, and the noise of the engine of the Gater.  Then add in the 90* heat and high humidity and the discomfort of wet clothing.  If that wasn’t enough, then we added the exhausting climb up the iron mine.  I was ready to quit and I know the kids felt it too but they didn’t give up.  Sammy led the way up our climb and had no one in front of her to show the way.  She tried and tried and lo and behold she made it.  As we came back down the hill, I could tell she had had enough.  We were way out on the course and far from any drinks, snacks, or anything familiar to help her stay calm.  Then she fell down and let out a scream that near brought the entire staff running.  But she pulled it together and was the second to make it back to our ride.  You could see her physically struggle to hold off her melt-down.  And she did it!

Sammy took a short break, she didn’t get upset or yell, but informed us all that she was done talking.  Even as the guide tried to cheer her up, she ignored him and stayed calm.  Within five minutes we arrived at the waterfalls and it was just the ticket to “reboot her system”.  Sammy was back at it again!  

The Wielhouwers once pointed out that it is nothing short of a miracle, that when we travel, we so often end up with guides that have a child or close relative with autism.  That was the case again today… thank you Jesus!  It makes it so much easier to know they understand!  I was particularly grateful at how patient and kind both of our guides were with Sammy… shouting up words of encouragement to urge her on and trying to make her ride as fun as possible. 

Sammy has come so far through the years.  As we walked into the dinner show tonight, we reminisced about the hoops we jumped through to attend our very first dinner show four years ago.  Today she blew us all away by not just sitting through and behaving at dinner, but laughing and participating in the cheering of the event.  Then the frosting on the cake was watching her out on stage, competing in the event, with the crowd cheering her on.

I am so grateful for the opportunities Sammy has had.  I consider travelling and the outings we take some of the best therapies we have found.  They help her grow and try new things.  Please understand, though, it is not without a cost… days like today can be hard on Sammy.  It’s tiring to try to understand the world around her and I never want to make light of the work it takes.

Autism is a strange yet beautiful thing… it has been an amazing journey watching Sammy blossom firsthand.

I'm sure not everyone will recognize the accomplishments from today in my regular post, so for our sake, I’ll share these milestones to remember:

• Climbed the iron ore mine
• Held herself together during what could / would have been a tantrum
• Finished her day at Fox Fire Mountain and the hour ride home in wet clothing
• Handled the disappointment of NOT getting a souvenir in the gift shop
• Politely told the waiter what she didn’t want at dinner
• Cheered for her team appropriately during the dinner show
• Celebrated Tyler’s success in the sling shot competition
• Competed on stage in the sling shot competition herself
• Chose to take her headphones off part way through the show

Today was nothing short of a miracle folks!  M-I-R-A-C-L-E!!