Friday Knights - We survived!

As many parents with a child with Aspergers, i was trying to find some sort of social skills group for Dom to do. He is only 4 years old so our options are very limited. Most of the programs start at 6. So, a friend mentioned to me the Friday Knights program at St. Rose. This is where kids are put into small groups with volunteers who are students at St. Rose. They work on social skills by playing, coloring, music, yoga, and movement activities. The whole concept sounded great and only $25 for 5 weeks, so lets try it, right?

I signed up on a Thursday for the Friday program. As i was reading our confirmation letter i read that there would be 200 children signing up. My anxiety shot up like a canon. My son is going into a place with 199 other children? God help me, how is Dom supposed to handle this? Then i read that there would also be 200 volunteers, which sounded crazy but did make me feel better.

As we approached St. Rose, i had a brave face on for Dom, but i was pretty much a nervous wreck. We signed Dom up and got his name tag and went into the room where 5 friendly smiling volunteers were waiting for the kids to arrive. They were very friendly and down to earth which was great for me. Dom looked pretty nervous since it was a new place, new people, new activities, which usually gets him scared. He preset him, showed him the schedule and hung out till the new kids and waiting for the opportunity to sneak out. I gave him a kiss, pryed him off my lap, gave him another kiss, said bye, kissed him again and left the room. Dom looked very scared and nervous as my hubby and I peeked through the door for 10 minutes to see if he was ok. So, off we went to the parent support group that was taking place at the same time.

This is where parents of children on the spectrum sat down according to the age group of their children. As someone who doesnt mind talking about Aspergers to anyone, this was pretty good for me. It was really nice to talk to other parents who go through the same struggles as we do and talk about Kindergarten transition, which is on my mind every single day. 

So, 2 hours passed and it was time to pick up Dom. I was so nervous to see how he did and prayed that he did fine. And he survived! The counselors said that he was quiet but started to talk a bit at the end. And when the counselors asked if he would come back, he nodded yes! So to us this is a success! With KIndergarten around the corner, maybe it will be ok, right?