Yesterday I went to see High School Musical on Ice with six little girls. I was a chaperon, along with three other adults, so we did well.

Of the six little girls, three of them would be considered “special needs” which can make for an interesting day.

There was Hannah who did well, her best friend A, who is dealing with Precocious Puberty and A’s sister F, who has Asperger’s Syndrome and Sensory Integration issues.

This can certainly make for an exciting day. Fortunately, all of the adults involved deal with special needs on a regular basis. F and A’s parents took us, along with the girls regular day care provider and then there was me. We had things pretty well under control. There were times when the Asperger’s in F flared up quite readily.

The first was when our schedule was slightly altered because one of the little girls had to cancel because she was sick. This was F’s guest so it was hard for her to handle the transition and “substitution” of another child.

The worst part came when we were just pulling into the city of Green Bay and the universal joint on the vehicle we were in went out. I don’t know a lot about cars, but I know that’s a very bad thing. The girls began to panic about missing the show and then began to panic that something was going to happen to our vehicle. After many assurances that we had things under control and that we were driving slowly to keep the girls safe, they were able to somewhat relax. We made it just in the nick of time and were seated as the show started.

During the show I kept checking on Hannah and F. Hannah had never been to a production like this before so I didn’t know what to expect from her. Knowing about F and her sensory issues, I was prepared for a meltdown if there was something that was a trigger for her during the show. All through the show I kept thinking of Julie and LuLu. I knew that LuLu would have loved the show, but I also knew that there was no way that she would have been able to make it through it. There were fireworks, strobe lights, loud sounds and the music was a little on the loud side. There were way too many triggers for LuLu.

A couple of times I saw F move closer to her daycare provider, but overall she loved the show and was happily singing along.

F again had to deal with a change in schedule when we didn’t leave immediately after the show was over. Her dad had been fixing the vehicle during the show and wasn’t quite done yet when the show was over. We made phone calls and schedule changes and everything worked out fine in the end, but she had a trigger moment when the arena was basically empty except for us.

For parents who aren’t prepared for things like this, it can be overwhelming and can even put a damper on a fun day. Since we had four parents who could handle anything the kids could dish out, we did fine and still enjoyed the show. It takes a lot to rattle any of us. This point was proven to two of the girls who are in my Sunday school class that were with us. They kept trying to get me “annoyed” and failed miserably. I informed them that there wasn’t anything that they could think of that I hadn’t already dealt with.

Having special needs kids can really change the way you deal with life and everyday situations. Yesterday, my experience came in quite handy.

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