Seeking the Connections

Today is one of those days when so many thoughts are competing in this noisy and exhausted brain that I cannot focus or get inspired about just one theme for this post. I can only hope that somehow these hyperactive musings will synthesize into something coherent as they tumble through my fingertips and onto the screen.

All this week, I was considering how best to explore two qualities of neurodivergence that have (and continue to) impacted my life substantially.

These include the complexities of PDA - otherwise known as a "persistent drive for autonomy," which has also been pathologized and named "persistent demand avoidance." These two very different ways of thinking about and examining what looks like defiance - have resulted in ODD (opposition defiant disorder) diagnoses exploding in the past few years.

The other is RSD - "rejection sensitivity dysphoria." Broken down as simplistically as possible - this is the constant feeling that I am letting people down or they are upset or angry with me because of something I said or did (or didn't do).

But as I was considering how to present those two interconnected pieces of my personality that affect my every action (reaction), my thoughts were taken over by some of the events this week and how our kiddos are deeply impacted by the severe childhood traumas they endured, their own neurodivergence, and the overall (I would say dangerous) culture of competition perpetuated in nearly every aspect of our children's lives. Which, funnily (interestingly) enough, results in many behaviors that also resemble PDA & RSD.

Therefore, while battling to maintain calmness in my own responses (not always successfully), I am modeling the tools for self-regulation and conflict resolution while engaging in individual and group conversations to help kids navigate the complexities of their emotions and important connecting relationships within this diverse, dynamic (sometimes chaotic) community.

Thank goodness for the other DRC adults, facilitators, and mentors who understand the multitude of nuances and are available to help whenever all the feelings and overwhelming undertones of wild energy erupt and infect everyone's mood - including mine.

DRC News

As you may have guessed, it was another very full week at DRC Canton.

I realized as the kiddos and our fabulous parent volunteer, Jaclyn, were measuring and determining our property line - it was exactly six years from the day we purchased it. They measured our 33o' x 65' plot with the help of the tax map and a 200ft tape measure and then they went back the next day with the GPS property map app to confirm their original measurements. They were just a bit off because they were measuring around trees and lots of other obstacles.

We welcomed a new teen on Tuesday and had plenty of kitchen adventures all week. Our artists created goth glue drawings that will be completed next week and they painted a "stained glass" window in our front door. Our daily dedicated time of academics included math adventures with Khan Academy and Prodigy, independent reading, GED Prep study, explorations into US history and researching mushrooms.  

As always outside play and visits to the Grasse River were an important part of our week.

Notes from Janine, our DRC Pop-Ups Mentor
(I) had a great week with my DRC kids this week. We instituted circle sharing for the start of our group days to touch base and learn more about each other. We played a rollicking (and a bit rowdy...) game of Massena-opoly, and did a walking tour of downtown Norwood as it was a beautiful fall afternoon. We watched a train, spied the old grinding wheels from the paper mills which led us back to the library to research the history of Norwood (learned about how the town was founded, early industry and how the town got it's name) and also papermaking in mills and otherwise and picked up a small treat to share at The Norwood News Café while we were out walking.
Looking forward to more adventures next week!

Don't miss our Fall Family Fun Day next Saturday! We'll have live music, arts & crafts activities, games, raffles, etc.