School Illnesses

My son has autism, and I identify his ability to mimic to be his gift.  I believe every child has a gift or talent that they do well, and mimicking is Puppy’s gift.  My son is also rather demanding when it comes to receiving attention.  However, he chooses who he wants undivided attention from and seeks it.

So far we have had a good start on the school year without any major illnesses that have kept Puppy home.  I hope I'm not jinxing us.  However, yesterday, a classmate of his wasn't feeling well and threw up in the afternoon.  The teacher sent me a note home letting me know that Puppy was also not feeling well so that I could monitor him.

Even though it is Mrs. B's first year with my son as her student, we have spoken on several occasions and she is fully aware of the mimicking.  Her first intuition was that he’s having the same reaction to lunch as another student in Puppy’s class.  When she noticed that Puppy had not thrown up, or had real stomach pains--she decided that he was using the illness as a sign for attention.  She allowed him to put his head on his desk and rest, but waited for another sign to help her determine if he was or wasn't pulling her leg.  Luckily she was on to him and he forgot about his pain as quickly as it appeared.

This morning as Puppy and I were getting ready, he started whining that his stomach hurt and that maybe he needed to stay home or at grandmas. Everyone knows that there's nothing better than getting attention from grandparents.  He was on a roll, but I read him like a book and sent him to school.

It was around 10:30 A.M. when I received a call from the school nurse.  I thought to myself, "Here we go." Yes, he was complaining of a stomach ache and the nurse told me he threw up and I need to go pick him up.  I told her someone would be there shortly.  Then I called my mom and asked her if it was something she was able to do, pick him up and babysit him all day.  She said it wasn’t a problem but it was going to be a short while before she could pick him up and of course I said he’s fine, he’s being watched over by the nurse.

Just as I hang up, Mrs. B is texting to let me know he’s not feeling well, but she’s suspicious that he may be trying to go home because he saw the other student do it yesterday.  I agreed since that was Puppy’s conversation with me this morning.  She told me how he was forcing himself to vomit and could only spit up a little juice from breakfast.  We agreed that it would be better to keep him in school and monitor him since there wasn’t any fever or other symptoms present.  We cleared it with the school nurse and he was a little rebellious but calmed down after he noticed nothing was working to get the teacher’s undivided attention.  He finished off the day at school.
Puppy is now sleeping peacefully.  Amen.

Claire