What do you get when.....

you add 10 pounds of flour, 6 pounds of epsom salt, and one sleeping mother? A lot of fun for me and a HUGE mess for mom to clean. Yes, this morning my mother woke up to 10 pounds of flour covering every square inch of carpet and flooring in the living room, laundry room, and kitchen, as well as inside the heater vents, all over the couches and on top of the table and counters. But that's not all, I didn't want the bathroom to feel left out so I made a paste of epsom salt and water and covered the entire bathroom (including the floor) with the mix. Now luckily for me, the camera is out of batteries, so the only thing my mom has to remember this is her deteriorating memory!!!! So far she's ONLY spent 70 minutes cleaning up after my early morning playtime--so that's not too bad. Seeing as I'm still alive to write to you, I thought I'd do a little post on transitions and routine.

As some of you may not know, another defining trait of autism is the inability to adapt easily to change. Yes, there are many of us who don't like change, but I REALLY don't like change. And to show my disdain for someone daring to change my routine, I act out in one of two ways--trouble or trouble. This week happens to be spring break, so I'm out of school for the week. Fortunately for mom, we were doing all kinds of doctor visits and things over first two days, so I didn't have an opportunity to get into trouble--but today was MY day. So off to find flour and epsom salt for a truly unique sensory experience.

So how does that tie into a service dog? Well, my mom is hoping that a service dog would be sort of an "anchor" during times of change and transition. That the dog would be a consistent factor that helps keep me from acting out because of change. There are many stories of my mess making adventures (permanent markers, Costco size pancake mix, peanut butter, flour, sugar and shaving cream are a few of my favorites), but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Since I don't have a picture of today's mess, I thought I'd post one that happened in October of 2006. This one I entitle: SHAVING CREAM. This is what happens when mom takes her eyes off of me for 5 (yes 5) minutes.