An Autism Mom's Personal Highlights from Kids Con Portland 2019

This convention was the most fun I've had in a while. It was well put together and everyone involved went out of their way to make sure the families had a day to remember.

Because my littles have sensory sensitivities we tried to maximize our day. We wanted to see as many superheroes as we could. The highlight of our day was going to be Princess Story and Song time at 1 pm so we planned accordingly. The event started at 10 but we arrived at noon to allow time to walk around but not have too much empty time on our hands.

My fangirl in training wanted to wear her "pretty dress" which is a fairy costume that she mostly wears around the house. My son has extreme sensitivities when it comes to clothing so I put him in an autism awareness tee shirt. I wore the Martha Jones clothes I wore a few weeks ago to the Rhode Island Comic-Con.

When we came in we were greeted by Hawkgirl and Flash. There were countless superheroes walking around. Everyone was in character and more than willing to talk to the kids. 

When we entered the artist and author alley, I was looking for something cool. I had nothing in mind, I just wanted something unique.  The first book I spotted was clearly written for us.

Over the top of some children, I saw a blue book titled "Some Days I Flip My Lid" with an illustration of a child in full meltdown. It sounds over the top, but I got glossy-eyed. The author, Kellie Baliey, smiled and asked if I wanted to hear about the book she wrote with Hannah Bailey. I absolutely had to have this book, so I said of course. She then told me that children sometimes get overwhelmed with feelings and they cannot handle them. Since she works in a local school district as a speech pathologist, she wanted to write a book for children to help them find words for what happens when they get overwhelmed. She also wanted to describe to a child how to relax. She tells the story of Max who tells his Mom how he feels at school. Mom helps Max come up with breathing exercises to help him control his emotions. I told her that what grabbed my attention was the title. I then told her about my two special kids and we could absolutely use a book like this. This was the only book we purchased, and there were some amazing children's books there. If you would like more information, the book is listed on Amazon. 

There were some amazing looking children's books.  Some that stood out where:
A Moose With a Uke by Aaron Risi. Aaron was one of the friendliest and down to earth authors there. I learned he tours schools here in Maine. This book is on my Amazon wishlist.

The Secret Galaxy by Fran Hodgkins with amazing photos from NASA and Mike Taylor. This visually stunning book is filled with beautiful pictures of space. This is a book I will be purchasing when the kids are a little older.

The Alan the Wrench books by Joseph Paragona, Jr. 

The next book that grabbed our attention is The Cows Go Moo! by Jim Petipas. My son was drawn to his table by a friendly-looking cow who had a sign on his neck proclaiming "FREE HUGS!".  Jim was nice enough to let him play with Beaker. We also got to read the book. My son loves the illustrations which reminded me of Sandra Boynton's books. My daughter loves that it is a book full of "moos". The book is full of delightful Easter Eggs that will amuse parents as they read the book to their littles. The book has a song written out across its pages and you can download the song for free from Jim's website. When I get my next paycheck, we are buying this book. I hope there are additional books in this series because they are delightfully imaginative. My son got his own Beaker to bring home after winning a raffle hosted by the author.

We made sure to stop by and say hello to legendary artist Jim Lawson before going to explore the rest of the rooms.

The reason I wore my Martha Jones outfit was because The Maine Whovians brought their wheelchair accessible TARDIS! My son loved meeting an Ood. The Doctor was nice enough to let me hold his sonic even though I won't meet him till further in his timestream. The TARDIS was built out of scrap wood. It is bigger on the inside and looks amazing.

On our second pass through the room, we saw a Dalek ring toss game. My son tried to play but could not grasp that he had to let go of the ring to make it stay on the post. I told the young man at the table that my son has autism and gets confused sometimes. The young man smiled and said, "It's ok, I have autism, too!" I had to look away. Then I told my autism warrior "Look, he's a superhero like you are!" I told the young man at the TARDIS that I appreciate him being there. At that moment, out of all the comic cons I have been to, I met someone I can truly admire. Sensory sensitivity can be overwhelming and this young man is out talking to people describing how him and his family built the TARDIS. I asked him how his day was going and he said he loves making people laugh. He consented to us taking his picture.

It was getting closer to the time to meet the Princesses. My daughter needed a costume change due to a surprise accident. We went to the event room. My son was happier than he had been in our brief time there. He could finally run and jump, his two favorite things.  He saw a little girl with a giant stuffed jungle cat. He slowly walked up to her and extended his index fingers, pointing at her toy. She asked him if he would like to pet her toy. I get overwhelmed when children are nice to my little guy because it can quickly go downhill. He is nonverbal and impulsive, with almost no impulse control. I said he would like to pet her toy if he can, please. She agreed so for a brief moment, he was just a little boy playing with another kiddo. Then he was off, running and jumping and stimming. The room quickly filled up and I got nervous. Crowds are generally not good for my little guy. The princesses and Beast got right into storytime and quickly transitioned to the sing-along and dance party. My kids sat still and did not stim. We have not seen many Disney movies after a disastrous attempt at watching Snow White. I asked my son if he was having fun and he used sign language to say yes. Both kids clapped during the sing-along. My daughter was happy to dance, yelling "DANCE!" as she twirled with the other little kids.

Like George Costanza, I have learned that you always go out on a high note so we got ready to leave. We were only there for a few hours, but we avoided meltdowns. 

The event was well put together. There were calm zones for kids that got overwhelmed which was a nice touch. We had a wonderful day. Thank you to everyone behind the scenes who provided a fun, magical day to the children of Maine and their families. We hope to return next year.