dancing toddlers

[jenk1]

I went to see a production of "Emporers new clothes" last night, my niece was in it.

There were various dances but when the group of toddlers came on and did their rendition of Amerillo i got really upset.

My dd wont probably be able to join a dance school like all my nieces and I have done, she falls over all the time and needs her little zimmerframe to get round.

My other little neice who is a few months older than dd sat through it all clapping and laughing at the funny bits whereas dd was at home with dh as theres no way we could take her anywhere like that,she would just scream and cry (we think she,s Asd too)

I got really tearful and came home halfway through and now i feel awful because i didnt stay there for my niece.

Ah well moan over, im just so glad i have you guys on here that understand.

Oh jenk- been there done that. I loathed mainstream nativity plays for the same reason.

One thing though, since changing schools ds1 does do all that stuff (within school). Their school productions are amazing and wonderful events- every single child does something, even those who are profoundly disabled. I never thought I would actually look forward to those sorts of things, and I really do, although I struggle hard not to blub through the entire thing :o

Oh Jenk. :( Don't feel bad about not staying for the whole thing. You did incredibly well to sit through the first half IMHO. xxx

OH jenk- it can be hard & things like this really hit a nerve sometimes. Our ds was awful at his playgroup nativity,turned up costume in hand, couldn't even get him through the door, new environment & all that..
But I am sure your dd will find something she loves & you will be crying with pride!

DS also does something at each "show" at his special school. But I still have to sit at the back as I find it very, very hard to watch. But I'm not blubbering just about him now, its all of them! Prob a bit different though as you see how hard they try, how hard the staff try and the little things they can do, pass the hankie.

Hi jenk i can understand how you are feeling. My husband had to sit at home with my ds2 who has autism when it was his big brothers nativity last year asthe hall was too crowded and he would scream/cry and not sit at peace. The nativity was lovely and as it was p.1 to p.3 my son whos in p.1 just had to sit and sing with the rest of the p.1s. I was proud of ds1 as even though he has his own classroom asisstant he sat really good the whole time and did the singing and the hand movements just like the other kids.

Moments like this are so hard. Don't feel awful. It was good of you to go in the first place.

Just last week I was talking to some colleagues at work about how I did ballet when I was little and one of them was talking about how her daughter does it, and it suddenly hit me that it is something dd will almost certainly never do and it made me really sad. Not sure why, because I didn't even particularly enjoy it and in the big scheme of things its really nothing. 'Little losses' still hurt though I guess.

It's all the children for me as well. I remember at the last one there was a boy who did something (shouted into a microphone I think) and he was so incredibly proud that he kept grabbing the microphone and doing it again, then he walked round the hall bowing to everyone. His pride in himself almost set me off (but his parents were 2 seats away so I couldnt do that!)

Another show- the xmas one- they'd made all these snowflakes, put them in a parachute and sent the whole lot down on the whole junior school sat there- it was so colourful, and with all the children with such major obvious difficulties I was almsot blubbing as well. HUGE knot in throat....

at HITC in tutu! It is surprising what can be upsetting though, I never expected to get blubbery at DS's Xmas show etc but now I know to sit right at the back. Some of my friends whose children go to special school with DS don't seem to find it upsetting at all and sit right in the front grinning and clapping. I would love to, I just can't.

I find it tear jerking and very emotional, but not just awful in the way mainstream was iyswim.

I'm always busy being amazed that he sits through the whole thing as well!

Of course I had the scenario a couple of years ago when DS was the WORST out of the whole show and had to go ourside . Other people just say "oh he was fine" but he wasn't. He's been much better at the last 2 Xmas shows though.

I went to a dance show at the community dance organisation that dd went to; she was in the 1-2 class and the 3-4 year olds were the youngest ones doing a dance at the show

I stood there and watched with tears rolling down my cheeks because I thought she wouldn't be able to do that when she was older

next year she was in it. she didn't take her walking frame but crawled. they did a funny dance about cleaning and while the kids who could walk pretended to dust high up things and prance around with dishcloths, her and her (able-bodied) partner scrubbed the floor on their knees

for me it was about finding the right place. we go to an arts-council funded organisation which takes disability access seriously, and the focus is on them having fun and being creative rather than getting the steps right. I wouldn't send her to a dance school because it wouldn't help her confidence whereas she is 5 now and still goes dancing, she's part of the class and she loves it

come to think about it one of the mums there the other morning said that her child had just been diagnosed with AS

ah it was that I hated about mainstream Davros, know exactly what you mean. Because ds1's school is PMLD as well as SLD that just doesn't happen now