Overreact

o·ver·re·act

intr.v. o·ver·re·act·ed, o·ver·re·act·ing, o·ver·re·acts

To react with unnecessary or inappropriate force, emotional display, or violence

When my eldest daughter was in first grade, she came home soooo very proud as the class had been discussing animals and their characteristics.

“MOM! I KNOW exactly what animal you are! We talked about it in class today!”

My slightly embarrassed and yet thrilled reaction was to think “aww, bet it is a soft cuddly bunny or a sweet little puppy” Guess again....

“A WEASEL! Wanna know why? Because a weasel has no patience, will fight to the death to protect its young and is pretty funny looking.”

She does still live in this house and has suffered no ill effects from her all knowing pronouncement. (Although in my defense of appearance, I was sleep deprived, and in the beginning of the autism diagnosis of her younger sister)

I sometimes overreact. There I said it. I overreact; sometimes internally and heaven help those around me, sometimes externally. Often enough that it has become a family catch phrase “going weasel”. (this means look out, mom’s about to blow!)

We need to try to explain to our kids that sometimes their autism causes them to overreact to sensations/noises/lights/textures/smells that typical folks handle just fine. Sometimes it is "escalating" much too quickly, and sometimes it is just the level of reaction. Both can draw unwanted attention and appear as "atypical" or "bad" behavior.

The key is to NOT overreact -- or teach your child to recognize when they are overreacting and help them "reel it in". We used the story of the boy who cried wolf. If you continue to overreact to small things, how will we know when something really huge is bothering you and worthy of an overreaction? We have also used the "what do you really think this situation is on a scale of 1 to 10?" approach. Examples of a "worthy" 8 or 10 might help. We have fewer and fewer "8 and above" now. The Yellowstone Volcano erupting would be a 10. Spilling a glass of milk ...1 or 2!

Help your child by showing how YOU react when things don’t go as expected, or a loud noise startles you....they can practice what their reactions should be.

My children now practice NOT “going weasel” :) Now if they can....surely there is hope for me?