Um... Neurodiversity?

fredalina

There is a boy at LO's preschool who has turned into her archnemesis. He grabs her friend's headbands and throws them through the fence, he pushes and stands in the way, etc. I know he sounds like a jerk but I got some insight today. Apparently he is on spectrum and fixates on things like headbands and glasses, and has issues with personal space, hence being "in the way".

Char has been talking about this kid for a long time with generic comments like "he can't come to my house", but lately it's coming to a head. Last night she told me she defends her friends and it included some hitting back when she says he hit, etc. Of course we talked about going to the teacher and saying no. Then today she wrote, I.e. dictated to a teacher who wrote, a story entitled "The " and then the mispronunciation of his unique name that she uses. In the story, he attacked the city, and he took mom and dad into the water, and she saved mom and dad but The Boyname didn't come out of the water.

A couple of weeks ago we went swimming and there was an older girl who obviously had autism. LO couldn't understand why the girl wouldn't talk to her, so I explained that she's still learning how to talk with people she doesn't know and still learning to play. LO was very receptive to this approach and very patient with the girl even when she took a toy and when we were leaving and she didn't want to give the toy back.

I have explained that the boy is a little like the girl and is still learning how to deal with other children. We all have things we're working on, etc, and to try to be very patient.

Any other suggestions?