Support Group Release!

Last night I went to a support group for parents of children with "needs", so to speak. They have been meeting for a few years, but I was never able to attend in the past due to schedule conflicts. The session was on the topic Behavior=Communication.
Even bad behaviors (i.e. tantrums, hitting, self injury) is communication and that in order to handle these situations adults need to adjust their way of thinking too. So, instead of punishing for these behaviors one should try to decipher what is triggering these actions and try to to alleviate the stress. It was NOT rocket science, but it was insightful. It reinforced a newer concept for me, that when kids who have some type of sensory issue(s) have these "bad behaviors" they are most likely overstimulated in some form and should not be punished, but allowed to decompress.
I sort of lost it when we started discussing how to approach this type of reinforcement in the schools. I was recalling our past school year and all of Andrew's expressions of frustration through hitting himself, pulling his hair, or banging his head on his desk and how we were not being listened to by the teacher. She did give him down time, but never tried to figure out what was the trigger of the problem. I am not sure where these emotions came from last night, but it did feel better to share it with people who understand what it is like to be a parent to a child with "needs" and not being heard or understood by others. It was great to finally be apart of a group who got it, who say to themselves (as I do), "I wish they could see my child the way I do!". I let go of many years of frustration in one two-hour meeting. Plus, I was able to give some insight to some parents who kids are younger, and starting Kindergarten or Preschool in the fall. It was an overdue experience for me and am glad I finally got to go. I will definitely go next month and as many more as I can attend.