I just had to find a place to write about this today and then I remembered - on occasion, I blog. I am hip and timely and relevant, right?
My son has a mild autism disorder - likely Asperger's Syndrome, though he doesn't display some of the red-flag Aspie characteristics. The Asperger's Syndrome shows up mostly in his social play, anxiety, and pragmatic language. He had a tremendous year of Pre-K and is about to go to Kindergarten. I am so grateful for everyone who has worked with him to teach him his social strategies. That's another post for another time.
At any rate, we were at the pool tonight. He found a friend who had a water blaster like he does - let's call the friend "R". He was so socially appropriate with "R" - he engaged him in play, he sought "R" out to have a water blaster fight with, and he didn't get upset when "R" would walk away temporarily. In fact, Christopher cried when we had to leave and asked if he could invite "R" to our house.
This was a kid who a year ago was a bit of a loner - he would entertain himself by himself while all of the kids played nearby. He didn't show much interest at all. And now, he spotted "R", he found a very appropriate way to engage him, and entered into and out of the social situation like any other kid.
Unbelieveable.
For you, it might be hard to understand how to dissect a social situation - maybe it comes completely naturally to you. I have learned through my many teachers (Deb, Jane, Amanda, to name a few) how to dissect these situations and keep Christopher on the path good social skills to "teach" him what comes naturally to the rest of us. And today, with "R", he only needed a few cues to not jump on "R" or push him under the water - other than that, the casual observer saw two boys at the pool, playing like boys do.
But if you really close, that same observer would see a Mom on the side of the pool. See her? The one with the dark glasses on? She has a tear of pride streaming down her face, though she will pretend it's a rogue splash drop she is just brushing away. Look closely and you will see in her heart how much she wants consistent social success for her son, and how proud she is of him and how far he's come.
And tonight, she will be grateful for the gift that is her beautiful, perfect son.
