K is for Kayla, Of Course!

What else could I do for "K" besides Kayla?

Although what is there to say about Kayla that I haven't already said in 9 years of blogging?!

Kayla loves live theater. She seems to be interested in the whole aspect of it - her own role as well as the roles of the other actors. She enjoys watching live theater productions as much as she does being on stage and part of a play. We take the kids to a couple shows a year produced by the Charleston Stage and they always have a great time.

The past few years (3 for Kayla, 2 for Lucas) they've also participated in Missoula Children's Theater; the traveling company goes to military bases and in one week's time the kids perform their play.

This past summer they were in a production of The Little Mermaid.

These plays are half-musicals with lots of group songs throughout the play as well. Kayla's speech is such that she can't quite keep up with the fast-paced lyrics of a song, but she generally gets the chorus down pretty well. She can't hold a tune - just like her mother - but unlike her mother she doesn't care and won't lip sync. I love that she doesn't have any insecurities about this and isn't self-conscious when she is on the stage.

In this video clip she did say her first line too quickly - she said it at the same time Lucas was supposed to say his line (and she did so well during all the rehearsals and when we practiced at home - she knew her line was right after his, but got too excited.), but she nailed her next line right on cue.

I'm glad that she has found something she has so much fun doing.


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ADHD in Action

Kayla was diagnosed with ADHD about 2 years ago. Initially we decided not to medicate her with prescription drugs - mainly because of the side affects. However we're starting to reconsider that because I know not being able to focus and concentrate is affecting her at school and impacting her ability to absorb and learn new concepts. We see it every day when we try to work with her for 5 minutes at the kitchen table on school work. I can only imagine what a full school day is like for her. But to medicate or not to medicate is for another post.

Today is a glimpse into what I imagine to be a classic example of ADHD.

Kayla was in a drama camp this summer. She was one of 3 mice in the adaptation of The Hare and Tortoise. In this video clip you can see how distracted, and not so focused on the scene, she is with her shadow on the wall and her mouse tail. Lucas is sitting in the front row in the gray shirt with black stripes. She's trying to show him her tail.

She doesn't typically like anything in her hair, it doesn't help that the headband ears are slightly too large for her head. Throughout the whole play she kept taking the headband off and on, off and on, and adjusting her hair over and over and over to the point it was making me want to pull my own hair out!

While all of that is going on she does manage to get most of her lines. Even though in this clip a couple of her lines are said while she's facing the wall and not the other actors! Oh well - at least she knew it was her turn to speak and remembered her lines. Although one of her lines "We have ideas!" she missed her cue, but then came back with "Great ideas".

In case you can't hear it very well her first line is "where's my shoe?" After the "great ideas" she says "and kind", "he stole my shoe", followed by "we're underfoot".

I love this girl - Down syndrome, ADHD, and all! She makes me laugh in this video, it's just so Kayla.

Rehearsal and Performance

I am so proud of Kayla. So proud of her during rehearsals and during the Snow White play - wardrobe malfunction and all.

I had no idea what to expect out of this whole experience. I had no idea what to expect from Kayla. Rehearsing for a play was new for both of us. It was a whirlwind week ... but so fun!

Rehearsals on Tue and Wed were 2 hrs. Rehearsal on Thur was 4 hrs with 1/2 hr snack break. On Fri they were there for 4 hrs with a 1/2 snack break and then immediately performed the play. They were there from 2:30 until 7:45: whew!

I was the only parent who stayed for the rehearsals. Everyone else dropped their kids off and left. Yes, I can be a bit of a 'helicopter mom' at times. As I said, we've never done this before so I didn't know what to expect from Kayla.This was a new environment and new adults and kids that she would be with. Several questions went through my mind.

Would she listen and pay attention?
Would she follow directions?
Would she be impulsive and run around instead of sitting still?
Would she focus?
Would she talk and disrupt?
What would she do during the times her group wasn't actively involved in rehearsals (when they weren't on stage).
Would she get bored and decide to wander off?

I have to say - she blew my fears out of the water.

Not to say that my fears weren't valid. Case in point: This week she is at Vacation Bible School. On the 2nd day she told me she ran away and they chased her. Yes, one of the adults confirmed her story. Another volunteer took her to the bathroom and then she bolted. Ran for the steps and went up the balcony in the sanctuary and hid. Testing boundaries? I have no idea; she's not usually such a runner anymore.

So I stayed throughout most of the rehearsals to keep an eye on her and intercede if I needed to. Which I didn't. The 2nd day I went out of the gym where they were rehearsing and sat in the lounge area. She only opened the door once with Kelly running after her telling her that her mother was sitting right out there. Kayla only wanted her water though; she didn't realize I had left her bottle inside.

During their 4-hr rehearsal on the third day I waited until after they had their snack break before I went to get myself something to eat. She had been doing so well sitting in the theater all that time. Most of the time it wasn't her group's turn to rehearse so they had to sit in the theater chairs quietly watching ... and waiting ... and waiting. She did so great. She stayed in her seat. She was quiet. She was captivated by the acting going on on the stage.

Just one little snag when I left to get something to eat and came back to find her still sitting in the seat when her group was on stage rehearsing. When I asked why she wasn't up there I was told because she wanted to be on stage sitting next to Snow White. Sigh ...

She re-enacted scenes at home. She quoted other characters' lines. Seriously, I was surprised when we were driving home and, unprompted, she said the turtle's line, "What's the hurry? Wait for me?" (Pause) and then continued on, "Slow and steady wins the race." And she remembered every word.

She learned her cues, and hand motions, and the group song.

During the performance she had a wardrobe malfunction. The frog foot came off her shoe. I was so proud of her for staying in character and continuing on with the scene instead of getting up and going to find someone to fix it (which I can imagine her doing). She didn't yell out that the foot came off, she didn't yell out that she needed help. She just held it up so we could see that it came off.

And I admit it took every bit of this 'helicopter mom' to keep my butt in my seat! Because I wanted to help. I wanted to quietly walk up to the front of that stage and fix the foot for her...because I wanted to make sure she stayed seated. We hadn't talked about what to do in a situation like that. But somehow, she just knew. She knew to remain seated with her cast mates.

She took off the huge frog gloves and attempted to fix it herself. It came off again, the second time she was on stage. Thankfully, the last time she was on stage she was without the frog feet so they wouldn't have to distract her anymore.

Here is Kayla's first acting gig:

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And with a clearer picture, here she is during the group song. She doesn't take after me as I would lip-synch! She's a bit off in her timing, but she did it. And if you listen closely you can hear Kayla's voice singing. Singing along like everyone else. So proud of her.

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I have a feeling there will be more plays in her future!

 

Auditioning For Snow White

When I've taken Kayla to see plays or ballets she is mesmerized by what is happening on the stage. At the end of the performances she'll say it's her turn to be on stage. She enjoyed being on stage for the ballet recital and the Global Down Syndrome Foundation's Fashion Show.

So when I saw the Missoula's Children's Theater was on base last week to perform an original adaptation of Snow White I knew I had to take her to the auditions.

She was excited when I asked her if she wanted to try out to be in the play Snow White; of course I knew that she would want to BE Snow White. I made sure to explain to her that you had to be older to be Snow White but maybe she could play another character ... one of the dwarfs, or an animal.

Auditions were Monday and we had no idea what to expect. She's never been involved in a play before, much less auditioned for one. The only thing I was told was the kids would sit in a circle and the tour directors would ask their names and ages and see how loud they responded and get a feel for their personalities.

Well they did that and then some. The only thing I practiced with Kayla was saying her name loudly, and clearly.

It didn't go so well. I couldn't even hear her say her name when it was her turn. It was like she was just speaking to the tour director directly instead of making sure she was heard.

Then they had different lines that they had to say in a small group and then individually. Kayla's group had the line, "My calculations are always correct!" It's not a long sentence, but for a child with speech issues I admit I groaned when I heard that line. A word with 4 syllables is hard for Kayla; I usually have to break them up and we say it syllable by syllable until she can (mostly) get each syllable in the word. I knew 'calculations' was going to be tough for her to say.

When it was Kayla's turn it was obvious that she wasn't going to be able to say the full sentence. One of the tour directors, Kelly, was great and didn't miss a beat. She said to Kayla, "How about this? Just say 'my calculations." After Kayla repeated that, Kelly said, "are always correct." I was thankful she was able to split the sentence up for Kayla so she could still participate and say the line.

They ended up having a part for every child who auditioned. They said that doesn't always happen (I think they didn't have as many kids audition as they were expecting), but either way, Kayla was given the role of a frog - one of the Forest Animals.

I kept debating whether to thank the tour directors for giving Kayla a role, for a taking a chance with her and letting her participate in the play. But then that felt like I was saying they were doing her a favor, when really, why shouldn't she have a chance to be in the play? Kayla wasn't the only kid who didn't speak up loudly, who wasn't demonstrative, who mumbled or didn't speak clearly, who hadn't been in a play before, who didn't put much oomph into speaking their lines ... so if they were also chosen why shouldn't Kayla have been too?

I wasn't expecting her to be any of the main characters, and that's fine. I just wanted her to get her feet wet and see how she did and if she would have fun.

Most of the time the Forest Animals were on the stage they sat in a line and as the narrator was talking they did some had motions. Kayla did have a couple of speaking lines though. One of her lines (which was spoken with 2 other kids) was, "And we have a new queen!?"

In the first rehearsal this line sounded like this to Kayla, "Andwehaveanewqueen?!"

She tried to say it in unison with the other 2 kids, but she could only get out "new queen."

The next day I did ask Kelly if they could slow that line down just a beat. I practiced it with Kayla and if it was said more like, "And .. we .. have .. a .. new .. queen!?" she was more able to say the full line just about in unison.

Kelly had no problems with my request and immediately called the 3 of the kids over to practice it at the slower pace. This worked so much better for Kayla.

I am thankful that they didn't look at Kayla and see Down syndrome and automatically think it wasn't going to work out. Down syndrome never came up at all. If the tour directors had any reservations about Kayla they never expressed it to me ... they just accepted in her the play and treated her like everyone else.