John August and “the walk”

John has in-home therapy every day of the week except Sundays.  By the time Saturday rolls around, his mood after therapy can go either way.  Today was one of those days where we tried to get out of the house after therapy, and in hindsight, perhaps should have just stayed home.

John went to the wildlife sanctuary and got a cheeseburger during his therapy time.  He had a great time, even pausing to look at the animals at the sanctuary.  He fed the ducks, walked the trails, and went through the activity tunnel.  He also did a good job waiting for his food and even ate in a restaurant.

After therapy was done, we decided to get out of the house and go for a walk.  We wanted to walk along a track and go somewhere where there was a wide open space where there wasn’t any traffic or much activity.

We headed to the nearest track with public access and got out of the car.  As soon as we got through the gate, John decided that he wanted nothing to do with this plan.  He dropped to the ground and started screaming and pounding the ground. When I could get him to look at me, he had a look of fear in his eyes. This meltdown was intense and lasted a long time.  He never calmed down to where he would walk over to the track.  We also had a hard time picking him up.  When he gets like this and drops to the ground, you can’t get a hold of him to pick him up.  It’s kind of like picking up water with your fingers.  Between the two of us, we finally ended up being able to pick him up and carry him to the track.  Dad took him and ran around the track holding hands for one lap, and then Juell walked him around for a second lap.  He never calmed down, and we ended up going back to the car.

It wasn’t one of John’s best days, and we don’t really know why he got so upset.  We are left guessing as to the reason for the meltdown.  These meltdowns don’t happen as often as they used to but when they do we feel helpless, sad and frustrated that our little boy can’t tell us what he needs.

We posted a video of him on his Facebook page.  This was taken after he calmed down a little bit. You can see how hard it is for him to tell us what he needs.