Reflecting on how nature deficit disorder has affected my
life, I found that I was quite aware of its impact, and I tried to keep that from happening with my children.
I am not a nature person on any level and this can be
attributed by many things in my life. I grew up in a big city. I was on the
outskirts, where there were creeks and access to nature, but my body did not
like nature. I remember my mom taking me for walks in the nearby park; I came
home wheezing and with puffy, red eyes. I am allergic to pollen and many kinds of
grass and trees along with horses and dogs. I also grew up without a father, so
I never learned to fish, camp, or hunt. Consequently, I gravitated towards the city.
I loved taking the trains into center city with friends; we hit all the record
stores on a regular basis. My wife grew up in the suburbs and the city gives her anxiety. I love
the buzz of a city. Crowded streets, buses, and subways don’t bother me. But, sometime
in adulthood, I recognized how little connection I had with nature. I became
aware that I am sensory-adverse to nature and thought that was rather sad.
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| Philadelphia |
My wife and I had a son in our thirties. Jet is autistic and
had many sensory issues. We tried to immerse him into many environments to help
him overcome them. I joined him up with boy scouts and found I had just as much
sensory issues as he did. We sent him to camp for three straight summers. He’s
19 now and not very much into nature, but he has conquered many of the sensory challenges
that plagued him during childhood. I believe his exposure to nature helped with that.
In our 40s, my wife and I had a little girl, Presley. She is
very outgoing, and I noticed very early on that she loved nature. She loved
picking up lizards and didn’t have any sensory challenges. So, I signed her up to
several nature camps while she was still very young.
She’s only 8 and has had
much more exposure to nature than I ever had. However, I do notice she is becoming
more squeamish to things. I think she is mimicking the reactions to those
around her. If the students in her class are freaking out over something slimy,
then she thinks this is how she is supposed to respond. I try to encourage her
to set a different trend, especially since she has a type A personality. I hope
she continues to appreciate nature; I think she will one day regret it, if she
doesn’t.
