I suppose if I had to list a benefit to Zoe’s stimming, it would be that our girl is unbelievably strong. My husband and I are often amazed that our eleven-year-old has well-defined abs and some pretty amazing arm strength. Having good core muscles is important for balance, posture, and coordination. There is only one problem: when Zoe puts what I’ve coined “the vise-grip of doom” on something (or someone), it is difficult to get her to let go.
This is something that we’ve been able to help Zoe curtail –for the most part—but occasionally, especially when she’s particularly disorganized or having a rough patch, she will let her guard down. And the only way Zoe seems to feel like she can ground herself is to squeeze the heck out of something. Yesterday she had just such an incident, and one of her teachers was on the business end of the dreaded vise-grip. Zoe came home with a note explaining what happened: long story short, Zoe grabbed hold of her teacher’s arm in a moment of frustration. Zoe acknowledges the behavior is wrong, and she is aware that lack of impulse control is something she must work on. There will be times when people will not be as accepting of this behavior as her teacher, and Zoe needs to realize that before she finds herself in a situation where someone will try to hurt her right back.
Have you had a situation like this one? How did you respond? Post your comments here, or send me an email at [email protected].