An SI kid toasting marshmallows

Yes, fire is hot. Yes, smoke is uncomfortable when it gets into your eyes. But if your a sensory defensive, toasting smores is unbearable.

For most kids the promise of a sweet gooey treat at the end of the journey is enough to get them to hold that stick near the flames even if their hand gets hot. For an SI kid, the feeling of their hand becoming warm while the rest of their body remains cool in the fall evening air is hard to reconcile and a feeling that may create panic.

I watched as firstborn was trying to toast his marshmallows. He would tend to move closer to the other kids sometimes putting himself into a perilous position as he balanced as close to them as he could while holding his marshmallow stick over the flames. He would pull it out before it could even get hot and then try again. He never found a comfortable position to await the browning of his treat. While the other boys delighted in their sugary fires while their marshmallows turned black under the blue flames, First born could never get near enough to even brown his.

When the fire became smoky, he would run away. I tried to show him that if he turns his head away, he can breath and it won't get in his eyes, but so many of his reactions are instinctive and difficult to reason through.

On a positive note, he reacted very well to the homeowner's poodle; hardly noticed she was there.