We drove K.C. and Big Brother to Flagstaff, AZ. this morning to see the snow. (I took pictures but when I tried to upload them I discovered dead batteries) I brought K.C.'s little dvd player and it kept him busy most the way. We also bought some alphabet and numbers flash cards. He really likes the numbers but not the letters. He looks them over and over and as he looks at each one we tell him what number it is. Sometimes he doesn't want to hear our voices and will let out a screech that we know means, "hey no more talking!" We stopped for gas on the way to Flagstaff. K.C. wanted out of the car so he went inside with us. There was quite a long line of people paying for gas (pay at the pump was not working) so I thought I would walk with K.C. and Big Brother and get what we wanted while C.B. waited in line. (to make it somewhat quicker) I walked K.C. past candy, sodas, chips, you know, all the junk food. Big Brother wanted Clamato to drink as he's addicted to the stuff I swear, then asked if he could have Oysters of all things. Big Brother loves smoked oysters. No oysters, just the Clamato. I tried to find something K.C. might like to snack on, I did bring his dry crunchy snacks with us but thought maybe he might like something new. He did find something new alright. A sign that was for sale, it said, "no parking." Black and red sign. He would not budge from this sign. He looked, then tried to grab it. I thought, I should just get the sign, then I thought no, this will just encourage his grabbing things from the shelves. Then I thought, well Big Brother got what he wanted, K.C. just happens to want the no parking sign, I should get it for him. I did not get it for him. I felt bad, should I have gotten him the sign? I am afraid it will turn into an obsession for K.C. he loves logos, small print, open/closed signs and I don't understand why? Does anyone in the blogosphere know why some Autistic children are fascinated by signs/numbers? If I can figure it out I may be able to help K.C. learn from it. I know he loves numbers but doesn't seem to care that they are actual numbers and they mean something. I see him looking at them at every angle, studying them. When we reached the snow K.C. was very interested, he looked and looked until we finally stopped. When he got out and his shoes hit the snow he wouldn't budge. He held his arms straight out in front of him like a mummy. Big Brother thought it was hysterical. I told C.B. and Big Brother to walk on without us and I stayed with K.C. I picked up some snow and held it in my hands and he poked at it with his finger. I walked ahead a bit and hoped he'd follow me and he did! Very slowly, but he was following! Big Brother and C.B. called his name trying to encourage him. He walked with me holding my hand. I lead him to where Big Brother and C.B. were and he watched them build a small snow man. Big Brother ran up to K.C. and put a snowball he had made into K.C.'s hand and said, "throw it." K.C. screeched and DID NOT like snow on his hands at all. He wiped it away again and again. The good thing is he only screeched, he didn't lose it! We all had an awesome day and I am so proud of my boys:) In the past when we went places and K.C. didn't come because we thought it would be, "too much for him to handle." I always went with a sinking feeling in my heart that I left my little boy at home because he's Autistic. I can tell you it is a crushing feeling, because I didn't take him with us. He's family, he should go everywhere with us, we should never exclude him because he's Autistic. We love him dearly, Autism and all.
5 comments:
Tina I so admire and feel for you. It has got to be so hard. I know going back and forth like you did with the sign,with everyday "normal" kids sucks, I can only imagine. I am glad you went was there alot of snow?
I bet I would have bought the sign and give it to him later when he wouldn't associate having his own way, might have been awesome to give it to him after he touched the snow and walked like a good boy.
I am such a sucker for letting them have what truly makes them happy, sometimes I have no idea why they like varoius things but joy is often so hard to come by in their fear filled lives, if a little thing like a no arking sign brings some I just give it to them!He is a beautiful boy! I love reading about your boys. Helen.
You're 'lucky' if I walk away, no-one follows me ever!
On a more practical note, senior used to attach himself to signs [that was when he was three and he could read, although now he can't read].
Anyway, it would mean that any kind of trip was a nightmare. If you tried to budge him, he'd just plonk himself down on the ground / hang onto the post for grim death / have a meltdown.
Anyway, for him [possibly the only child on the planet] making replicas of signs that he liked - stick in little photo album, take little photo album everywhere you go, add to photo album on condition you don't buy / remove the original - sorry so garbled - speed. love m
It sounds like you guys had a fun outing! Snow in Arizona is rare! I am glad it was a success.
A road trip to see snow!! Great idea! Even up here in Cold Canada we have yet to see any of the white stuff - It did snow today (our first snowfall this season) but it stopped after about 40 minutes, and it is just a thin sprinkling, not even enough to cover the grass.
As for signs and numbers - I have no idea what the obsession is - My older two are both HUGE into signs. Duncan would take a stopsign to school every day last year (thankfully he had a very understanding teacher). He is even more number obsessed than Matthew. 5 yrs old and he does fractions and has incredible math skills. It's almost painfully obvious to me (and his teacher) that he has Aspergers, even though he didn't qualify for an official diagnosis - Some days his atypical features are almost more pronounced than Matthew who *does* have an official diagnosis.
I'm a sucker and probably would have bought the sign (if it wasn't too $$). We also try to discourage the grabbing things off the shelves. Matthew has an obsession with keys that drives me insane - he's always stealing my keys, car keys, door keys, even the old key to my armoire. Also batteries. 500 toys in the house, and he plays with batteries, and the rubber wheels that he's taken off all the toy cars in the house....
Anyway - I like the idea of having him make pictures of the signs to keep with him.
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