TLDR lol
Hmmmm let's see. More about my son.
He, too, needs structure. This is very difficult, since his dad and I aren't together anymore. He has two homes. He has developed a routine in my home, but none in his dad's. He always comes back very stressed and frustrated. He does appreciate always knowing upon arrival and departure how many days he will be in this place or that. We can break routine, but we need to prep him. If I know we will road trip to my sister's house on the weekend, I start telling him a few days ahead of time. No problem. He loves road trips.
He likes space. He can socialize with my son and me, but then he needs silence and alone time. That's tough, because I live in a studio. He doesn't like kids his age. He only interacts with adults or much older kids. He doesn't like to be touched, unless it's us at home. Strangers are a HUGE no. This is also difficult because he's very cute! Lol! He's going on six years old, but looks like a three year old and when he does talk, he sounds very babyish. People often stop us to tell him how cute they think he is and then he has meltdowns. Lately, also thanks to therapy, he has learned to do breathing exercises and instead of melting down, he calmly tells people no with his hands. His little hands still trembling, though. People always give us bad looks. To them, he's a jerk. He didn't understand emotions in face expressions.
This has also been taught to him with a lot of training and therapy. To him, it's not natural to acknowledge it, so it takes him a moment to observe and conclude. So a kid can get frustrated because the kid wants to play and he doesn't. My son's first reaction is to get very annoyed and frustrated. He then takes a moment to find space between them and breathe. He observes the child. He thinks about it. Sometimes imitates the expressions for a bit. Then he will go near the child and try to smile or sign that everyhing is ok and either he tries to play, or calmy plays nearby but alone. That's just an example. When I'm around, he discusses what he sees. "Mama, he cry?" Yes, honey, he's crying. Why do you think he's crying? "He cry. He sad. I no play." Yes, he is sad, because he wants to play. Do you want to play? "No. No play. No cry. I no want he cry." Then he'll try to do something nice, but still not play. You get the picture. I don't want to teach him that he must do what makes others comfortable, though. He shouldn't sacrifice himself so others feel comfy. If he doesn't want to play, he shouldn't have to. I let him resolve it however he thinks is best.
In academics, he's great. He has always been ahead of the standards, even for children without autism when it comes to anything structured (math, alphabet, spelling). He struggles with communication, though. He cannot comprehend long sentences, sequences of events, or dialogue that contains too much information without breaking it down. When I tell him a story, I pause to let him provide input every few sentences. Crowds are a big no. Just no. He goes through phases of only whispering instead of normal voice. This is normal for him and can last from a couple hours, to months at a time. Along with selective mutism (not even whispering, just mute), he also has what is like a reverse echolalia. He needs you to repeat what he says. He will want to force you to repeat what he said. He gets very frustrated if you don't. This is interesting, because when he started speech therapy, echolalia was something he was working on, because he focused more on repeating what people said, rather than comprehension. Now he wants us to prove we comprehend him. This would be functional, but the thing is, that when strangers (like a new teacher, a classmate, etc) don't know this, he has crisis episodes when they don't repeat everything. He gets so stressed, he feels that he can't breathe. Kind of like a very deep need. A vital need. We're working on it.
He's a fun kid. We play wrestling. We play tag. Hide and seek. He draws. He plays video games. Puzzles. He's extremely funny. Very very sweet, but selective of when and with whom. He loves playing basketball with his brother. When my coworkers met him, they were skeptical about him being any different than any uptight kid with no autism. Lol! It wasn't until they spent more time with us that they began to notice. He hates them all! Lol! Except my closest buddy who's actually on his way here right now.
Basically, I want to learn as much as I can about him and the way he sees his world so we can all contribute towards his quality of life, instead of just trying to make him "normal". That wouldn't be fair. Sure, therapy helps him be more self sufficient and to be able to live with others and enjoy, but we too can learn about the way he thinks and feels in order to understand the why and how of as much as we can, and prevent things from being forced upon him when they're hurting his mind. I will not force him to be like his brother or like his classmates. He is unique. He already tries so hard. I think we can try, too.
Hmmmm let's see. More about my son.
He, too, needs structure. This is very difficult, since his dad and I aren't together anymore. He has two homes. He has developed a routine in my home, but none in his dad's. He always comes back very stressed and frustrated. He does appreciate always knowing upon arrival and departure how many days he will be in this place or that. We can break routine, but we need to prep him. If I know we will road trip to my sister's house on the weekend, I start telling him a few days ahead of time. No problem. He loves road trips.
He likes space. He can socialize with my son and me, but then he needs silence and alone time. That's tough, because I live in a studio. He doesn't like kids his age. He only interacts with adults or much older kids. He doesn't like to be touched, unless it's us at home. Strangers are a HUGE no. This is also difficult because he's very cute! Lol! He's going on six years old, but looks like a three year old and when he does talk, he sounds very babyish. People often stop us to tell him how cute they think he is and then he has meltdowns. Lately, also thanks to therapy, he has learned to do breathing exercises and instead of melting down, he calmly tells people no with his hands. His little hands still trembling, though. People always give us bad looks. To them, he's a jerk. He didn't understand emotions in face expressions.
This has also been taught to him with a lot of training and therapy. To him, it's not natural to acknowledge it, so it takes him a moment to observe and conclude. So a kid can get frustrated because the kid wants to play and he doesn't. My son's first reaction is to get very annoyed and frustrated. He then takes a moment to find space between them and breathe. He observes the child. He thinks about it. Sometimes imitates the expressions for a bit. Then he will go near the child and try to smile or sign that everyhing is ok and either he tries to play, or calmy plays nearby but alone. That's just an example. When I'm around, he discusses what he sees. "Mama, he cry?" Yes, honey, he's crying. Why do you think he's crying? "He cry. He sad. I no play." Yes, he is sad, because he wants to play. Do you want to play? "No. No play. No cry. I no want he cry." Then he'll try to do something nice, but still not play. You get the picture. I don't want to teach him that he must do what makes others comfortable, though. He shouldn't sacrifice himself so others feel comfy. If he doesn't want to play, he shouldn't have to. I let him resolve it however he thinks is best.
In academics, he's great. He has always been ahead of the standards, even for children without autism when it comes to anything structured (math, alphabet, spelling). He struggles with communication, though. He cannot comprehend long sentences, sequences of events, or dialogue that contains too much information without breaking it down. When I tell him a story, I pause to let him provide input every few sentences. Crowds are a big no. Just no. He goes through phases of only whispering instead of normal voice. This is normal for him and can last from a couple hours, to months at a time. Along with selective mutism (not even whispering, just mute), he also has what is like a reverse echolalia. He needs you to repeat what he says. He will want to force you to repeat what he said. He gets very frustrated if you don't. This is interesting, because when he started speech therapy, echolalia was something he was working on, because he focused more on repeating what people said, rather than comprehension. Now he wants us to prove we comprehend him. This would be functional, but the thing is, that when strangers (like a new teacher, a classmate, etc) don't know this, he has crisis episodes when they don't repeat everything. He gets so stressed, he feels that he can't breathe. Kind of like a very deep need. A vital need. We're working on it.
He's a fun kid. We play wrestling. We play tag. Hide and seek. He draws. He plays video games. Puzzles. He's extremely funny. Very very sweet, but selective of when and with whom. He loves playing basketball with his brother. When my coworkers met him, they were skeptical about him being any different than any uptight kid with no autism. Lol! It wasn't until they spent more time with us that they began to notice. He hates them all! Lol! Except my closest buddy who's actually on his way here right now.
Basically, I want to learn as much as I can about him and the way he sees his world so we can all contribute towards his quality of life, instead of just trying to make him "normal". That wouldn't be fair. Sure, therapy helps him be more self sufficient and to be able to live with others and enjoy, but we too can learn about the way he thinks and feels in order to understand the why and how of as much as we can, and prevent things from being forced upon him when they're hurting his mind. I will not force him to be like his brother or like his classmates. He is unique. He already tries so hard. I think we can try, too.
"Hipster is what happens when young hot people do what old ladies do." -Exian
