Fragments of Arcadia: You Are Strong

IV.

Today was going to be an interesting day. The library was holding an "autism understanding" event. The goal behind the event was for parents with children with autism and those who want to know how to interact with people on the spectrum to find out more about how to do so. These events were always loud but comforting to Evangeline.

Normally, she didn't like loud at the library—it IS a library after all. However, it always warmed her heart to see these people learning to help others. She always remembered how hard it was to describe to her coworkers what anxiety was like. Even trying to describe it could send her into another attack.

"But can't you take medicine for it?" she remembered Sheila asking. Evangeline had to explain that the medicine wasn't a be-all-end-all. The medicine just helped her relax and made it harder for her to become overwhelmed. It didn't stop her from having them completely. Plus, the medicine is expensive, too expensive for Evangeline to consistently afford. It's hard finding a job when you can get overwhelmed and just shut down essentially. This was her longest lasting job at a year and a half and even then, she almost got fired.

None of the staff were ever mean to her about her anxiety, but they didn't understand. There was no malice in their feelings towards getting rid of her. A library is a lot of work to keep up and keep stocked and having one person come in and then not be able to do there job until they calm down is tough. Evangeline knew this. They weren't mad at her, they never were. They just wanted to keep the system.

Then these classes started at the library. A parent-autism group approached the library about using it as a meeting space for talking about how to parent children on the spectrum. Seeing as the library was here to serve everyone in the community, including those on the spectrum, Sheila happily accepted it. She felt it would help the community and the library learn about interacting interacting with the children.

At first, it was just the parents meeting about the struggles of parenting children on the spectrum. They were interesting discussions and it made the staff and Evangeline have a whole new appreciation for these parents. Then Sheila asked the parents about advice for how to deal with these children when they visit the library. That one question is what started everything.

The library started off with a special story time every month for children on the spectrum. After these were regularly attended, the very first "Understanding Autism" event was held. It was the day that really started to help the staff understanding these kids and even helped them understand Evangeline's life.

The library was a bit chaotic on that day. Some children were running around, others were making loud noises and some were staying near their parents. Some of the children you could tell were on the spectrum and some you couldn't. Either way, it was a still a joy in Evangeline's heart to see them having fun. She thought they were some of the most courageous kids on the planet.

When it came time for introductions, Krissty decided to play a game with the kids to try and get them to open up. It was called the introduction song. They started with a girl named Ramona.

"Hello, Ramona, Hello Ramona"

"We love you. We love you."

"Thank you for coming, thank you for coming"

"To play with us!"

At the ending portion every one would smile and laugh. The introduction song went around the circle until they got to boy named Aiden. The song went along as normal, but at the end Aiden got up and ran away when everyone laughed. Evangeline would never forget the child running behind her circulation desk and tugging on her dress.