Jack, 9
Jean is the mother of three neurodiverse kids, ages 7 to 10. She writes about parenting and autism and the intersection of the two in several places, including her personal blog, Stimeyland.
Jack is autistic and has a fair amount of sensory needs mixed in with his autism. He is a sensory seeker, which tends to be a problem for me as his mother because I have a bunch of sensory issues as well, but I am a sensory avoider. Our needs tend to butt up against each other on a regular basis. Jack first stuck out for his sensory needs in his 2-year-old preschool class where his teacher would have to basically wash his hair every day because he would smear paint all up and down his arms and all over his head.
He loves anything squishy or manipulative and can spin and spin until everyone in the room but him is dizzy. While some noises and situations are overwhelming for him, he tends to do best with a lot of sensory input and frequent movement breaks. One of the great things about Jack is that if you just give him something texturally interesting (like, you know, dirt), he can spend hours happily exploring it. He’s a cool kiddo.
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