My kid draws a fair bit of attention to himself at school-- he talks a lot, tends to lecture other kids about rules (even though he forgets them himself), wiggles all the time, and engages in some pretty obvious self-sooting behaviors when stressed (which is pretty much any time he's not 100% in his element).
So he comes home and says, "Everybody's glaring meanly at me!! !" As far as I can gather, this has a lot to do with his tendency to burst into tears any time he's corrected. I have it from the teacher (whose judgment I actually trust) that the kids aren't "glaring meanly" at all-- they're merely curious, or even disinterestedly observing, until Mister Edison bursts into tears (and then they are actually supportive).
I think I must have had the same problem as a kid-- I know even as an adult, I tend to read frustration/anger toward me in people's faces when they swear it isn't there.
This is one of the big reasons I'm terrified of an ADHD misdiagnosis-- if it's a problem now, it could be a real bear on stimulants. I suppose sedating medications would get rid of it, but what a hell of a price to pay, especially if there's another way to solve the problem.
How many of y'all have had the same problem, and what did you do about it?? I'm thinking maybe Social Stories, but I don't see much in the already written ones about that and it will take me some practice to be able to write up a good one, so I'm asking around.
_________________
"Alas, our dried voices when we whisper together are quiet and meaningless, as wind in dry grass, or rats' feet over broken glass in our dry cellar." --TS Eliot, "The Hollow Men"
15 Nov 2013, 10:56 am
