John 14:26
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Known by Tauren Wells
Happy Tenth Day of Thanks Everyone!
Today, I give thanks for puzzles. They have been so significant in my and Delilah’s journey towards her healing.
When Delilah regressed into autism, one of the biggest sources of frustration for me was Delilah’s incredible amount of energy and her lack of focus. She was even a runner, which means I always had to have on my running shoes and be ready to chase her through streets, supermarkets, and just about every other location you could think of. One day, I found myself chasing after her as she ran through Grand Concourse Avenue. For those of you who are not familiar with the Bronx, the Grand Concourse is an up to eight lane street that runs from the South Bronx to the North Bronx.
I knew that I had to increase Delilah’s capacity to sit still, focus and minimize her increased levels of energy. I prayed and asked the Lord what I should do and He reminded me of what my pediatric professor shared with me about how she increased the focus of the children at the Autism Institute. Puzzles were her secret strategy to calming the children, increasing their focus and assessing their cognitive ability. I decided that puzzles were a great, inexpensive way for me to meet all three goals. Since Delilah loved to play with anything multi-colored, I found the most colorful puzzles. I started her with the 10 piece Melissa and Doug puzzles that quickly increased to several more pieces over the course of several weeks. Each time she mastered a particular number of puzzle pieces, I increased the number of pieces by no more than 5.
Over time, not only did Delilah sit still long enough to complete most puzzles in one sitting, her focus increased tremendously and her enormous amount of energy was channeled such that she sat still indoors and outdoors. Currently, Delilah can comfortably do up to 500 piece puzzles. They usually take her about two to three days to complete. She abhors it when people try to help her complete a puzzle; she gives the person a look that if it could speak would let them know that she is ready to kill them. Delilah is not interested in sharing the victory of completing a puzzle with anyone else; she wants it to be solely hers.
Delilah also still loves the adventure of shopping for and picking out the puzzles in which she is interested in completing. Recently, we were in the store and she picked up at least fourteen 500 piece puzzles. They were of the most colorful scenes and themes. Someone just recently told me that I should enter her into puzzle competitions because of how good she is. I wait in anticipation for her to reach her first 1000 piece puzzle. That one will definitely be framed and exhibited somewhere in my house or her room.
Today, as I give thanks for puzzles and what they have done to tremendously help my daughter, I’m grateful that the Holy Spirit knew Delilah and knew just what she needed to help her focus and settle down. I invite you today to donate to the Bronx Parents Autism Support Circle, https://bxpasc.org/donate, a 10+ year old non-profit organization whose mission is to support and provide resources for parents and caregivers of loved ones with autism.
Love Ya,
Have A Great Day of Thanks!
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