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An Insider's View

Here is a link to a wonderful post about sensory seeking written by an adult with Asperger's. I love how she talks about how the activities made her feel.

I had so many seeking tendencies growing up, and so did Victor.

Every day at recess in fifth and sixth grade, my best friend and I would swing as high as we could, then jump off. Then one of the boys showed us how to back-flip off the swings and we were hooked! The first couple times was terrifying, but after that it was pure exhilaration! Until my best friend broke her arm, not even from a high jump or a back-flip, just a little jump! And the only person who would ride the Zipper or Eggroll with me at the fair was my Uncle Joe (who was kind of like a big kid himself) because I couldn't get enough of the rolling and plummeting toward the ground upside-down! I did manage to talk my older brother into riding the ejector seat with me one year though. Oh the blissful ignorance of potential injury and steel stomachs of youth!!

Victor once rode The Mindbender, an indoor roller coaster in the Edmonton Mall, 68 times in a row!! He was nine years old! His parents finally made him stop because they were afraid he was going to get brain damage! And he loved rides like the Hurricane and Teacups that spun super fast. He spent uncountable hours on the trampoline every summer, grazing his hair across the fabric with flip after flip. Not to be left out, his dad had built a literal sensory extravaganza as a backyard, complete with a skateboard half-pipe, slide from the top of their two story house to the ground, and zip line.

At any rate, it's really no mystery where our munchkins get their seeking tendencies from!

Funny thing is, after months of pregnancy nausea with each of my kids, just riding the Ferris Wheel now makes me feel like I'm going to loose my lunch! So much for mother-son bonding on roller coasters and fair rides. Just have to leave that to Daddy, and eventually sensory seeking siblings!
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