Monday, October 7, 2019

Down Syndrome Awareness Month - Noncompliance (Day 7)

I think that one of the most frustrating challenges we face with Colin is noncompliance. It is certainly not like what it used to be because at this age, Colin understands exactly what he is doing in response to an undesired task or just decides that he doesn't want to follow a direction. At any given time, he will intentionally take his time when he knows you are rushing him, will ignore you or pretend like he doesn't hear you or is just plain stubborn. We have some strategies that we use in any given situation and most of the time I can rationalize why he might be doing what he's doing, but it doesn't make it any easier when it's just frustrating. I think what makes it most frustrating is that these behaviors are not consistent and they often crop up after a period of things going pretty well (like today). I snapped a few pictures today as examples. First, we were rushing to squeeze in an errand before Cody's baseball game and I had calmly asked Colin several times to get in the car. He was not ready, so he continued to swing in the tree. 


Then, when we were in Target, he kept stopping at random displays and although I would ask him to move it along he would look right at me and continue looking at what he wanted to at his own pace. Sometimes simple strategies like placing my hand on his shoulder, trying to take his hand, or directing his attention works, but not always.


One of the ways I show Colin that I am not happy with his not listening is by giving him this "look". Every time I do it, he asks me to stop because he "doesn't like it". He asks me to "make the lines on my head go away". I happened to catch part of my conversation with him about it. In the second video he was being a little bit more silly.



Even at some of the most frustrating moments, he still finds a way to make me laugh! 

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