Get to Know Yourself... and Your Kids

So, I went ice skating the other week in North Dakota.  It was super fun and I loved it!  I'm still recovering from the bruises and I definitely have scars just above my ankles where my skin was rubbed raw.  But, I still loved it. My baby brother, Logan, who allegedly had never skated before, seemed to have no trouble right from the start--I never saw him fall once.  My little sister, Jana, was scared pretty much the whole time, but did improve... of course it could have been the Venezuelan boy's hand she was holding and not her own skill... :-)

Anyway, the more risks I took, the more I fell, but the more fun I had as well.  I was considering why I fell so much and why I never seemed to improve.  My senses are out of whack.

See, most people think there are only five senses, but really there are seven:

1. The tactile or somatosensory system-- sense of touch
2. The visual system--sense of sight
3. The auditory system--sense of hearing
4. The gustatory system--sense of taste
5. The olfactory system--sense of smell
6. The vestibular system--sense of balance
7. The proprioception system--sense of body position

Well, all senses are not equally developed (which is one of the issues in public schools--every child is assumed to have reached equal developmental capacities, when really they haven't, and expressing as much is treated as "misbehavior").
In paying more attention to my body, I have discovered that I have overdeveloped olfactory, auditory, and somatosensory systems and underdeveloped visual and proprioceptive systems. The other two I'm not sure about--they could be normal.  It explains all the accidents, my poor and underdeveloped sense of body position.  I am capable of tripping over thin air, probably because I'm constantly underestimating where my feet are.  The proprioceptive system is responsible for physical responses: initiation, construction, creating muscle "memory," controlling intensity, timing and sequencing, motor planing, etc.
Anton is often frustrated by how many things I've dropped, broken, and otherwise clumsily destroyed.  He won't let me take his computer anywhere (with good reason--I dropped mine a few days after getting it new). And he doesn't buy me drinks unless they have a lid that can screw on.

When it comes to eye-sight, mine is not the worst, but I often don't concentrate on what I see.

I'm easily agitated by unnecessarily repetitive and particularly loud noises.  When confronted with such, I tend to plug my ears, withdraw, or start rocking myself side to side or back and forth.

When I smell something unpleasant, or even something pleasant for long enough that it becomes unpleasant, I feel despondent and have difficulty concentrating on anything other than that smell.

I think I'm the most sensitive and empathetic person I know.  Easily provoked to tears, and constantly thinking about how other people feel, and when others are less considerate, it's somewhat frustrating.

This is just one way of getting to know myself, but it's had a significant impact.  Many of my behaviors and mannerisms circle back to how I respond to certain stimuli (obviously there's also an emotional component-- which is why I included one of mine--as well as many others, but this would be way too long if I included everything).

Getting to understand myself has been a long and arduous experience, and I'm sure I still have much to learn, but it's helped me control my actions and responses more appropriately (like trying to be less conspicuous about rocking back and forth in a class, since I sit in the front, usually).  It's also helped me understand others a little better.  I wish more people understood this, especially concerning children, because young kids don't always know what or why they are feeling or reacting certain ways.  As adults, we should, but we don't always take the time to figure it out.

Of course, I'm not saying that all "misbehavior" is linked to under or over-developed senses--it's just something to be aware of.  I have many of the same symptoms as a high-functioning person with autism... but I don't have autism.  In working at a habilitative center for children who have disabilities, I've seen children who legitimately have disabilities and benefit greatly from habilitative services... and I've seen children who could benefit even more greatly from parents who just get to know them better and stop trying to force them into conforming to specific personalities.