Please read: Emotional Meltdowns Part One and Emotional Meltdowns Part Two
When I referred to my crying when I was ready to go home and had to deal with people for another hour first, it's funny that I lumped together an incident from when I was 6 and another time when I was 16. The first time I was also handling culture shock and the second time, I was in the throes of jet lag (both side effects of being a missionary kid!) So it may have had less to do with Asperger's than I implied, but yeah. That's what happened.
My daughter turned one in March, and I have dealt with just a few temper tantrums from her by picking her up and laying her down in her crib and walking away until I hear silence. That has worked well so far, but only until she's light enough for me to carry! She is still getting ready to walk.
One time my daughter was starting to get worked up, and I sang this song (to the tune of "The B-I-B-L-E")
When I am feeling SAD,
Or someone makes me MAD,
Without delay,
I start to pray,
So God can make me GLAD!
It's a sweet little limerick, and it actually worked. She settled right down.
I also learned another children's ditty about feelings, from LeapFrog Baby.
Feelings are SPECIAL,
Feelings are REAL.
I like sharing the way I FEEL.
And then the song walks the listener through different scenarios for feeling HAPPY, EXCITED, and SLEEPY, with the chorus as above. I like this song, because when I was a teenager, I had the worst time putting my feelings into words, and I usually ended up bawling instead. Now knowing how to express our feelings helps my husband (also an Aspie) and me to communicate better. But more on that later . . . .
"HAVE YOU NOT KNOWN? HAVE YOU NOT HEARD? THE EVERLASTING GOD, THE LORD, THE CREATOR OF THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, NEITHER FAINTS NOR IS WEARY. HIS UNDERSTANDING IS UNSEARCHABLE."