This little guy I work with has a severe anxiety disorder. New people and places send him into a complete state of panic and discomfort. At the beginning of the school year, his Mom would bring him in, as far as the school foyer for the first few days, and I would go out with toys and things to attempt to lure him into the classroom. He gradually started to warm up to me, and soon he would come right to the classroom door, and sit there and play with me on the floor. Eventually, he and his Mom would come all the way in, and he got more and more comfortable as long as I was there, and his Mom stayed. After about 2 weeks, his Mom was finally able to leave him, without him getting stressed. Long story short, he loves school now, sits in his chair at circle and snack with the other kids, colours, draws, paints, uses scissors, etc. All things which TERRIFIED him initially.

Over the months, I’ve discovered that if I push him through the “scarey new” task, then he discovers that he enjoys it, and it’s nothing to be scared of, and he is perfectly fine doing those things the second time around.

He had never had a real haircut before. He wouldn’t tolerate having his hair even brushed. Mom and Dad would literally have to hold him down and buzz it off a couple of times a year. One day at school, he was doing some work, and I was sitting beside him playing with his hair. He wasn’t paying any attention to it, so I picked up the little scissors and was snipping the scissors all around his head and ears, and he wasn’t even flinching. I mentioned to his Mom that I thought I could get him through a haircut.

One Friday the 3 of us went to a local hair salon to get to know Cathy. It went very well, and he was amazingly comfortable considering he had never been there, or met her before. We went for a couple of visits. He got to the point of sitting in the chair and letting her brush it. So yesterday, I met him at his Mom’s van, and I took him in, got his coat and boots off, and told him to go sit in the chair. He did, and I gave him all the “treasures” (the stuff in his lap) to keep his attention, and told her to go ahead. He didn’t utter so much as even one word of protest! He chatted away with all of the ladies in there, and every once in a while would say, “snip, snip, snip”.

Eventually I saw Mom anxiously peeking in the window, and I waved for her to come in. She looked very shocked by that request! heh She came in and had a look of utter amazement on her face! I told her he had been sitting that way the whole time, and hadn’t said boo! She just kept say, “No way!” “Get out of here!” “Seriously??” She sat and watched the rest, and told him how proud she was. She had tears in her eyes. I told her she had to quit that, because I had told him that she would be “happy”.

It was one of those things I’ll never forget in all the years I’ve done this work. When I walked them to the car, his Mom turned around and gave me the biggest hug, and thanked me.

Unless you’re the parent of a special needs child, you can’t even begin to imagine what these seemingly small victories mean to the families. It’s great to be a small part of it.