Chapter 73 Chapter 73 [VIP]
In the corner of the group photo, Arthur was guiding Megan and talking to her. At the moment the picture froze, she looked up, and almost all her attention was on Arthur. Nothing else could attract her.
Megan was still a stingy child. She only cared about people she was familiar with. Everything else was unimportant and could be ignored. She would only look at them occasionally out of curiosity. After the group photo, while Arthur was talking to the staff and the psychologist, she was looking at the green plants on the side. Her observation and gaze did not need to have any meaning to the other party, but even if it had no meaning, she would still stare at it intently.
The psychologist said, "...it's possible that he has narrow interests and cognitive problems, but his emotions are generally stable, and he doesn't have stereotyped, repetitive, or impulsive behaviors. Even after intervention training, he still has mild social and communication difficulties, right?"
Arthur's account was fragmented and disjointed. Perhaps due to his daughter's illness, he had some understanding of psychology and psychiatry, but he hadn't studied it systematically, so his terminology wasn't very standardized. This made it easier for the psychologist to extract the key points and summarize them. However, a question occurred to him: "What about self-harm?"
This issue is very important, as it concerns how the care center develops intervention plans and courses for Megan, and how staff should treat her.
He looked up at Arthur. This tall and thin man, even though he was slightly hunched, was taller than the average man. His face was full of concern and worry for his daughter. The mixture of these two emotions made his image more three-dimensional.
Arthur was stunned for a moment, as if he was thinking of something very heavy. He raised his hand and rubbed his hair, which was not in line with etiquette. He sighed and nodded, "Yes..." Unable to restrain himself, his eyes chased Megan again. She was his most beloved child, his only relative and anchor in the world. Only she could keep him here.
If the unfortunate fate befell him again after Megan was lost, he would definitely follow Megan and leave.
Coming to this world, as a small person at the bottom of society, he only experienced the sadness and pain of powerlessness. He had actually been in despair for a long time, but it was only when Megan came back to him that he felt that he was still "alive".
The psychologist saw that the man was quite depressed, but he had found the focus of his life and was willing to give everything for his daughter, no matter what the hardship. He would not fall down easily.
Because he came to work at the foster care center, he also learned about the family situation of the special children he was responsible for, and he knew very well why Arthur behaved like this. However, the current conversation was still centered on Megan. He needed to know more about the child's behavioral patterns, cognitive level, and thinking logic.
Arthur said: "Meghan is taking medication. She sometimes feels pain after being stressed. Taking her away in time, comforting her, and taking medication will make her feel much better. But if we leave her alone, she will cry, hit the wall, and bite her arm..."
They continued to converse in low voices, and Megan, upon hearing the word 'Megan' coming from her father's mouth, ran over on her own.
Megan is very dependent on her adults. She stands beside Arthur's legs and insists on physical contact, as if only this can make her feel safe. After grabbing Arthur's hand, she starts looking around.
The psychologist had been observing them and noticed that Megan's expression was monotonous and she rarely showed any emotions or feelings, so she asked this question.
Arthur murmured, "Meghan needs to grow up slowly. She didn't realize it before. When she was happy, she would only say that 'there's a cat living in her heart.' It took her a long time to imagine that 'clouds are like rabbits.' Bringing her here, knowing that she'll be boarding, she's also unhappy, but she just doesn't know how to express it."
Tears welled up in his eyes. How could he not be moved by Megan's growth and changes? He always believed that Megan was the best gift God had given him and the only luck in his life.
The parents' words were very emotional, but if we analyze it literally, it means that Megan has mild cognitive impairment, but this is a common condition among children with autism.
The psychiatrist nodded, without mentioning that Megan was eleven years old this year, but she was too small compared to her peers. Some autistic children would have developmental delays, and he saw Damon's family situation in the past and guessed that she might be malnourished. He also had the information that Arthur gave to the foster care center, which showed that she did not have dwarfism and had no obvious lesions, but she just grew a little slowly.
…
Parents and children all had lunch in the cafeteria. Megan was not picky about food and liked vegetables and meat equally, but she didn't like black pepper sauce and broccoli. Even grilled meat and steak would not be poured with black pepper sauce. As for her not wanting to eat broccoli, Arthur felt that it could be replaced with other vegetables and did not force her to eat it.
After lunch, the daycare center had received their information and analyzed it before it opened, so now they had to arrange dormitories. The daycare center occupies a large area, and because the children have different illnesses, their dormitories are not in the same place, and boys and girls are separated.
Arthur, Megan and other parents and children were taken to a building next to the main building. Among all the mentally ill children, Megan was in better condition, emotionally stable, and able to act independently and take care of herself. The life teacher tended to let her live in a dormitory with other girls, but Megan didn't want it.
When the life teacher asked her, she curled her lips and was visibly unhappy, but she didn't talk to the life teacher. She pulled Arthur's hand and tried to step back, as if all the spikes on her body had exploded.
"No, no!" She shrieked, with great fear in her eyes.
Megan didn't like people of her age. She couldn't control her emotions, and tears quickly accumulated in her eyes. But Arthur knew that except for the time when she went to the amusement park, she had changed from being afraid of crowds to running around when she followed him out. In Arkham, when he was away, she lived with Poison Ivy and had hardly ever shown any strong emotions of refusing to get along with others.
Arthur hugged the terrified child. Her tears fell but she did not cry out loud. She looked so pitiful and cute. Arthur and the life teacher were at a loss as to why she was suddenly upset.
So the psychologist was called in again in the morning and learned a little about the situation on the way. He asked Arthur, who was comforting Megan, "Has she never interacted with people of her age?"
Arthur nodded hesitantly. "The only people who took care of her before were me, a relative, and a kind lady." The similarity was that they were all much older than Megan.
"Meghan always lives alone."
Very good, isn’t this the stereotyped behavior pattern?
Any attempt to get children to change their behavior patterns or accept changes in a certain situation or environment will cause a strong stress response, which may be due to anxiety symptoms. Because they have never tried to change before, and cognitive impairments make them unable to predict the consequences, it will cause anxiety, rejection and fear.
Because Megan's reaction was so strong and she was able to live independently, she was assigned a small dormitory. However, her emotions were not easy to calm down, so Arthur and she both stayed in the dormitory.
Megan's emotions suddenly burst out, and she couldn't control them for a moment, while Arthur carefully wiped her tears. There was no one else here, so he exaggeratedly sighed and said, "Child, you have been spoiled by me."
Look at her crying like that! It was just a small thing, a little injustice, and she became like this.
If not him, who could stand her?
But he's playing the role of a good father, isn't he? Arthur smiled and stroked her fluffy hair. "Okay, Megan, this is taken care of, isn't it? If you cry again, my heart will break."
In fact, Megan was no longer crying, but she was too delicate. She hugged the clown and huddled in his arms. For a while, apart from her uncontrollable sobbing, the only sound was her soft breathing.
The atmosphere at this moment was really good. Only Megan was willing to play the family drama with him. He had finally got this little actor who suited his taste. He patted her thin back and heard Megan say lightly, "Dad,"
"What's wrong?"
"I'm a little reluctant." She was expressing herself very seriously, and she had to think carefully about every word in her head. Whenever this happened, her speech would become a little strange.
Arthur made a surprised expression, "You missed me before I even left?"
Megan nodded frankly, and then Arthur stuffed a small plastic fish into her hand. She picked it up and looked at it, not understanding what it meant, but she was no longer at the stage of trying to bite anything out of curiosity.
In reality, she had only once attempted to bite a leaf in front of the clown. Normally, or rather, from the earliest times, eating simply meant survival. It was only after she gained self-awareness that she developed any likes or dislikes, so naturally, she wouldn't bite anything she caught.
That time, she tried to be naughty.
Arthur leaned over and kissed her forehead, "You know how seeing something reminds you of someone? Holding it, it's like I'm still with you." Even though the plastic fish was given to her by Killer Croc, he didn't mind it and just perfunctorily coaxed the child.
Megan put the fish in her pocket and said "oh" slowly. Her emotions had calmed down.
So at the special children's daycare center, after the staff delivered her daily necessities, made her bed, and put everything away, Arthur and the other children's parents were about to leave.
Megan was left inside the gate, which was surrounded by fences and surveillance cameras. Young children could not leave easily. She could only watch Arthur's figure getting farther and farther away, and finally disappearing at the end of the road.
Even though Arthur turned around and gave her a comforting smile, she still felt...
It was as if she had returned to an empty world. The water did not flow back, but the mist enveloped her, making her feel wet all over and in her heart. However, the hand in her pocket touched the little fish.
The little fish brought comfort.
The author has something to say:
Straight ball player. A poor and lovely baby says to you: I can't bear to leave you.
I've recently commissioned a lot of manuscripts for Megan, and I'll put them on VB~
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