Just the other day, I decided to take the ladies (all three of them) to a Disney on Ice show, by myself. It was just one of those things that I thought, if Eden was going to sit through 2+ hours of anything she would sit through that. It had some of her favorite things: Princesses, Disney characters and it was a live production geared for kids. The two older girls had never been to a show like this either and were actually pretty excited to go as well. In preparation of Eden having issues with the noise at the show, I had brought her noise canceling headphones, as well as my Ipod and some cracker snacks I know she loves.
We went to eat with my mom, sisters and niece before the show. It was a burger joint so it wasn't a big deal right? In our world not really,. We ordered our food and tried to find a table to eat at. I picked a table in the middle of the restaurant and just as we were pulling our chairs out, I saw Eden tense. Now this is that moment, no one else sees this but me. Her behavior changes just a little. Maybe I can sense her heart beating faster, feel the way her hands start to clench on the chair, or something else, I just don't know how it happens, but all I knew is that something was uncomfortable for her.
Then, I decided to ask her if we needed to find a different seat. She took a deep breath of relief and said, "Yes." And what went through my brain is, You are so awesome you found it! First try! We then proceeded to move to the tables next to a wall.
Just keep in mind that just changing our seats did not "fix" the situation for her. She was still very anxious and I offered her the headphones. All these things do is muffle noise and quiet things just enough so the little noises we can filter out don't bother her.She managed to wear these all through dinner and before we went to the car, I put them back in my purse. She did so well coping, she didn't eat a thing (but I didn't expect her to either).
We've found that in these kind of situations when Eden is very stressed or sensory overloaded, she just can't manage to put any food into her mouth. It's actually a great strategy for coping with sensory overload that doesn't lead to meltdown. Sure, I feel bad that I'm eating food while she is like this, but as long as she is reasonably comfortable I need to let her know that she can do it. She get's a ton of praise after a job well done and this was no exception.
We took off and headed to the arena where the show was going to be. There were a ton of people and lots of confusion. I did prepare Eden for this by talking to her explaining that she needed to hold my hand. The older girls are a great pair, they stick together no matter what and always have one eye on their sister. As we walked in, we were holding hands. I automatically do this thing with tapping my fingers on her hand, I know it sounds stupid, but it's my little way to keep reminding her to keep her hand in mine. I think it also reassures her that I'm still there if she can feel me even when she's blocking out other stimulation. If I haven't mentioned it before one of the most sensitive parts to Eden's body is her hands. They are the most ticklish part as well as the part of the body when she is hurt that bothers her the most. That's why her hands are very important to hold, no matter what I know she get's that input from me.
Waiting for the show!
We managed to get her to the seats I had reserved. They were not super close to the ice but I think that the arena where the show was being held was small enough that there really wasn't a bad seat in the place. Eden has had panic attacks when we have gone to events where we had to sit high in the bleachers, so I was prepared as best I could for her to be nervous. I did manage to get aisle seats and as soon as she sat down and saw the ice she was so excited. We watched the show and her mouth just about hit the floor when Peter Pan flew out of the sky! That was one of those priceless moments that I will never forget.
She never asked to go to the bathroom, for food, or to leave/take a break. She hardly said a word except, "I am so excited!" and "I like this!" It was so amazing how much she loved it. I put the noise canceling headphones on her as we left and she was so good waiting to leave with all those people (It seemed to take FOREVER!) She was asleep about 2 minutes into the drive home, headphones and all. She also talked all about it the next morning in great detail. I'm so happy I took her and can't wait for our next adventure.
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