Success Over Triggers

Last month Hudson melted down over a self-paced Math program at school. His class set a goal that each student who finished the program would get ice cream that day. Participation in the program was completely voluntary.

For Hudson, earning the ice cream became his fixation. When his classmates earned theirs, he became triggered. He couldn't understand why others were further ahead of him in the program.

His autism has gifted him with a truly magnificent brain that is academically advanced in a number of areas. He is our Superman. But like Superman, he has his own "kryptonite" to contend with. He often struggles with focusing on the tasks that he needs to accomplish, especially if those tasks are not particularly interesting to him. Math is a subject that he's very good at but doesn't enjoy doing.

This particular math program has a video component (which Hudson HATED) followed by timed exercises that had to be completed before he could move on to the next section. Hudson was struggling to complete the tasks before the timer ended.

When his classmate finished the program (and got their ice cream), he became triggered and remained very upset for the rest of the day. He was in tears as he got off the bus, saying terrible things about himself.

"WHY AM I SO DUMB?? Why does my brain not work right?!"

While he knows about his autism, he doesn't know how it impacts his ability to do things - like completing timed tasks.

He didn't know that this wasn't his fault.

But stopping this program (since it was voluntary) wasn't an option for him. He wanted the prize at the end. Through the help of his wonderful teachers, Hudson kept trying.

Yesterday, Hudson conquered a trigger by finishing the program. He finally had his prize.

And we couldn't be more proud of him.