ICE CREAM BREAK

This is interesting...

Last Saturday morning, I had a home-based session. The kiddo, TK, has Autism and has been having speech therapy with me since 2015. He turned 11 this year. His behaviour in sessions has never been the best. At times, he would be lying on the bed or trying to walk on the railings of his bunk bed. But today was one of his better days. 

After working on his processing skills for 20 minutes (and this can be quite tiring for him), TK transited to narrative writing task without fuss! He did not even need a break. I was elated! "Yes! Today I can push him more!" I thought to myself. However, at this very moment, his mother entered the room. She came in with two plates - on one of the plates, there was a wrapped ice cream and on the other, an unwrapped one. She passed me the wrapped ice cream and told me to enjoy. Then she passed TK the plate with the unwrapped ice cream. She told him, "Here, you said you wanted an ice cream right...? You want to try this new ice cream right...? Here is it. New one. You eat ok? And study."

Yummy! Icy lime coating on the outside and sweet creamy vanilla on the inside.
Photo source: https://twitter.com/hzqmhr/status/550670901025316865

I went "Errrrrmmmmm.... thanks thanks, thanks for the ice cream." A few questions came across my mind immediately:

(1) How do we eat ice cream and work at the same time?

(2) Since the ice cream will melt, we will have to stop work and finish the ice cream, before we can continue with the work. Hence, we will need at least five precious minute of our 60-minute session. Not only will it 'waste' our time, it will make us lose momentum.   

(3) A NEW ice cream? Trying something NEW... NOW? While I crossed my fingers and hoped that TK would love it at first bite and gulp the whole thing down within five minutes, I was totally skeptical! Especially something bright green, icy and sour on the outside, white, sweet and creamy on the inside. Think about the variety of textures, temperatures and tastes in that one ice cream. Tell me about the odds of sensory overload. 

And so... here was what happened next... 

First, TK used his finger and touched the ice cream gingerly. He then put his finger on the tip of his tongue and grimaced. "Alright... that's the end." I said to myself. With this initial contact, I knew things would go downhill. 

Next, TK pointed to the white ice crystals on the outer layer and said "I don't want to eat sugar. Sugar is not good." I told him that those crystals were ice, not sugar. Luckily, he accepted my explanation after a few repetitions. 

Then, TK reached out with his finger, touched the ice cream and gingerly licked his finger again. He grimaced again. He muttered to himself, "I am feeling sick. My stomach is sick. What should I do?" I assured him that he would be fine and that this was a new taste. I modeled to him how I was licking the ice cream and enjoying it heaps. So, I took his ice cream and brought it to his mouth and told him to take a lick with his tongue. To my surprise, he obliged. But then, he pushed my hand away and hugged his knees to his chest, muttering, "Oh, this is soooo... cold. I am freezing."

And then, my worse fear happened. TK got off his seat and went to fiddle the handles of the nearby drawers. He kept mumbling, "There is ice. And then skidded. There is ice. It is so cold. The ice skidded." I could tell that he was totally dysregulated - he was anxious and trying very hard to calm himself down. In response, I kept repeating in a slow and calm monotone, "It is ok... This is new... A new taste... You try slowly... Look at Teacher eat... It is yummy... " After a few minutes, TK returned to his chair. Phew! 

TK appeared calm and I decided to ditch the ice cream and resume our narrative writing. But TK's eyes kept looking at the ice cream. So I picked up the ice cream and told him to lick again. He did and grimaced again. He did not jump off his chair this time. He appeared to be less sensitive now. I asked if he liked the ice cream and he replied, "Yes..." despite his non-verbal cues telling me otherwise. Maybe he did like the ice cream but his sensory system just needed a bit more time to process.