Yestarday I took my son to school. He is 20 and in his second year of college. He has Asperger's Syndrome and nothing - I mean nothing is ever as simple as it should be. Over the summer months we have been preparing for this day, finding him accommodation, paying his tuition, trying to put the supports in place that will make his time at school successful. In spite of all the planning the first day is always rough, and yesterday was no exception.
My son has high transition anxiety, and no matter how much preparation, transition day is terrible. His body manifests stress in such a way that people who encounter him think he is being rude. In the middle of an interview with the Peer Tudor Services woman, his nose started to run - and he began to blow his nose over and over again - at the end of the interview as he put out his hand to shake I could see the woman visibly cringe - but to give her credit she did shake his hand. I imagine she rushed to the bathroom to wash her hands immediately following our interview.
During his interview with the Disablility Specialist (although "unhelpful patronizing bureaucrat" may be a better title for her role), he began to yawn, loud large yawns that took over the whole conversation. You could see the woman getting upset as in her mind I am sure she mistook his anxiety reaction for rudeness.
I had to leave him there after that interview. I spoke to him later on the phone, and he had finally been able to decompress, to walk away his anxiety, settle himself in his new room, and start to become familiar with being a student again. When he called home today it was to report that his first day of classes had gone really well. He was doing his homework, trying to think of how to do an oral presentation for his philosophy class on wonder. And that makes it all worth it.
