My heart started thumping as my mind raced over the problems with this situation: my daughter will be stuck in a room with 20-30 noisy kids not being able to process much of any speech due to the noise. She won't necessarily know what she's supposed to be doing when the person in charge tells them to put on their skates and get ready to go. She hates a lot of noise; she hates chaos; she hates to feel lost and most likely, she'll start to feel overwhelmed locked in a room full of 20-30 bored, anxious, loud, moving children. She might begin to feel panicked. Performing in the show is enough anxiety to learn to deal with. We don't need to provide anymore.
My hand darted up like the child desperate to get called on. "My child has a communication problem. Can I stay in the locker room with her?"
"You'll have to volunteer to be a locker room attendant for all performances and be willing to help ALL the children."
To myself I thought, well of course I'll help all the children as much as possible. But I cannot be solely in charge of all of them because my daughter will need me and that is my primary concern.
So I calmly stated that I would lovingly help all the children, but I would need someone else to help - I could not possibly do it alone due to my child's needs. What do you know, a woman sitting beside me volunteered to be a locker room attendant with me for all three performances. She has a child in the same group, and she said she works with senior citizens who have auditory difficulties (usually due to hearing loss) so she understands my concerns.
Phew! Everything worked out just fine - panic attack over. I love it when kind people provide.* Once again, asking worked.
*As an added bonus, the director of the program is going to coach my daughter's group performance number and she made a point to let me know she is aware of her needs and will be considerate of them. I love this ice skating program.
