Transitional Tuesdays: SPD From My Perspective -- An Interview With My Jaimie

In celebration of our ‘Focusing on SPD As A Family’, I have a little Q&A session with my gorgeous baby Jaimie. We talked about what she likes, what she finds hard and how SPD is from her perspective. And, you’ll love her opinion on what she wants people to understand about her and SPD.


Enjoy!

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MAMA: Okay! Why don’t we start with you telling everyone your name, your age and how old you are.

JAIMIE: Uhm…my name is Jaimie. I’m in Grade Two. I’m seven years old.

MAMA: And when are you turning eight?

JAIMIE: January 26th!

MAMA: What is the best part of school?

JAIMIE: Uhm…I like to dance and then I like to do art and I like to do recess. But I think my really second favorite is…GYM!!

MAMA: GYM! And why do you like all of those things? It sounds like you like your body to….?

JAIMIE: …MOVE!!!

MAMA: MOVE! YEAH!!

JAIMIE: And I really like art too because I’m really creative and I want to be an artist when I grow up.

MAMA: That’s awesome! And why do they dance in school?

JAIMIE: So everyone can get moving when they’ve been sitting down for a long while.

MAMA: EXCELLENT! And what’s hard at school?

JAIMIE: When you don’t understand the work and you do it wrong. That happened to me once. I did it all wrong and I had to do a new sheet.

MAMA: Was that this year already?

JAIMIE: Yup.

MAMA: Awww. And how did that make you feel?

JAIMIE: Sad.

MAMA: Yeah. And what was ‘wrong’ about it?

JAIMIE: Cuz it was really hard work.

MAMA: Really hard, huh? Was it…spelling?

JAIMIE: Nope. It was just a working with numbers thing and it was SO, SO hard. She didn’t even tell us how to do it!

MAMA: Was it the substitute teacher you had last week?

JAIMIE: Yeah, a substitute. And she didn’t even tell us how to do it!

MAMA: So you needed better instructions to do it ‘right’?

JAIMIE: Ya! She didn’t even tell me how to do it! She only told me how when she saw I did it ‘wrong’.

MAMA: Well, sometimes teachers don’t always understand that some kids need MORE instruction. Or instructions in a different way using words that those kids understand, right?

JAIMIE: RIGHT!!

MAMA: Okay. What is your favorite activity? That means at home or at school.

JAIMIE: I think my favorite activity is anything when I get moving and doing crafts.

MAMA: What are you really good at?

JAIMIE: I’m not sure.

MAMA: You aren’t sure? Something you’re really good at is anything that makes you feel good while you’re doing it!

JAIMIE: Well, I’m not sure I have one of those things yet.

MAMA: Are you good at…crafts?

JAIMIE: YEAH!

MAMA: Are you good at…art stuff?

JAIMIE: YEAH!

MAMA: Do those things make you feel good inside and make your insides calm?

JAIMIE: YEAH!

MAMA: Then those are the things you are really good at.

JAIMIE: Uh huh!

MAMA: Now, we’ve talked about how SPD lives with you. What is SPD, Jaimie?

JAIMIE: Uhm…some thing that you have when you aren’t comfortable with certain stuff or doing certain things and your brain doesn’t listen to what your body wants to do.

MAMA: That’s an excellent answer! And how does it make you feel? What does it make your body feel like?

JAIMIE: It kinda feels scared and once at Christmas concert I fell right off the stage. I didn’t even know that was going to happen but that happens a lot.

MAMA: Why did you fall off the stage?

JAIMIE: Because my brain didn’t tell my feet to stop.

MAMA: So your legs were doin’ their own thing, huh?

JAIMIE: Yeah, I guess I was trying to look at other stuff and listen to other stuff and the lights hurt my eyes so I didn’t know that my feet were still trying to go that way.

MAMA: Oh no. Well, maybe you needed some things to make your body feel safe so that your feet would have remembered to stop. What makes your body feel safe, Jaimie? So, when your body feels scared what helps it feel better or ‘safe’?

JAIMIE: Usually I just like to sit down on my spot on the couch with my pillow on top of me and I snuggle with Lamby (Mama’s note: ‘Lamby’ is a weighted stuffed Lamb that we can heat up). He’s really soft and he gets warm.

MAMA: So ‘heavy’ and ‘warm’ makes your body feel safe. What else helps? Do you do things with Mommy that makes you feel better?

JAIMIE: Yeah! I like music. I like to dance. And I like squishy massages.

MAMA: Me too! What kinds of music do you like?

JAIMIE: Beatles music is my favorite. I like Ringo and John.

MAMA: They are my favorites too. What ‘hurts’ your body?

JAIMIE: Sometimes when people touch me it really hurts. Like one of my classmates touches me or play pushes me and it really hurts. Or last year, a girl liked touching my hair and I just hated that. Maddie told her not to touch me or my hair. And I don’t like it when people don’t follow the ‘my space’ rules. That makes me mad.

MAMA: Me too, Jaimie. Now one thing I thought was really neat was that you knew that Xander had SPD before anybody else. How did you know that?

JAIMIE: I’m not so sure but he was just acting strange and getting mad about stuff and yelling when things were loud and stuff. Kinda like I did when I was a kid.

MAMA: You’re so smart! Okay, let’s have one more question. Are you ready?

JAIMIE: YEAH!!

MAMA: What are things you want people to understand about Jaimie when it comes to her and SPD?

JAIMIE: I want them to understand my SPD. Like once with my swimming teacher…he didn’t understand that I was trying really, really hard to do stuff but he kept telling me I wasn’t trying and made me keep going even when I was tired and I couldn’t do it anymore! He made me and Jordy cry! He said that I had to move my arms and legs and everything and I tried but they weren’t moving the way he said was the ‘right’ way. I wanted him to understand that I do try and that what I was doing wasn’t wrong. It was just what my arms and legs could do. That’s all.

MAMA: I like that answer, Jaimie. So, what do you want people to understand about you the most?

JAIMIE: Uhm…that I have SPD and that they should not be too hard on me and be okay when I’m brave enough to try and to like me just for who I am.

Thank you, Jaimie. I love you just for who you are and I always will. Tomorrow we’ll have an interview with Jordy on what it’s like being a sister in a ‘sensational’ family and learn what’s awesome about her.