The Gift of Autism: 2/20/11

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Seriously?? Soap?!?

Hunter has a few things he obsesses over, one is soap. Yes SOAP! If he knows there is a box in the house that is not opened he is sure to find it! The first few times he insisted on having the soap were a challange, why on Gods earth would he want to play with soap bars?? Well knowing the answer to that just isn't going to happen. For Christmas I received this beautiful expensive organic bar and did all I could to keep it from him. He found it... *shakes head*. I can either fight the battle and listen to him scream (see post below, dealing with his screaming is not an option!) or I can give in and watch him in his glory play with bars of soap :) Yesterday he was quite engaged in lining them all up on his Thomas the Train table and pushing them along. It was quite comical actually. (Even funnier when you happen to catch him bolting out of the bathroom where he was on the hunt for some...) Hummmm I guess his name is appropriate, lol. I promise you, if your child is diagnosed with autism you will see many things that will you would never expect in a million years. Some of those things will make you cry and some of those things will melt your heart :) I am always on high elert when he plays with the soap, unforunately they are not tear free and thats a whole nother issue! :(

Sunday, February 20, 2011

A messy creative moment!

This is probably the most imaginative thing I've EVER seen!! We have a stuffed dog with a hole in it (yeah, was supposed to sew it MONTHS ago, lol). Hunter has this thing about taking the stuffing out, not a good thing when I am the one who has to clean it up! You'd think after a few clean ups I'd of sewn it by now... nope...

So today he pulls the stuffing out and proceeds to throw it around saying it was snow balls. He learned that it was like pretend snow because he saw the fake stuff in many retail stores during the Christmas season. So once he's covered our floor with fluffly white stuff he drops and begins to make snow angels!! WOW! Just like he does at school with his friends outside :) One should NEVER assume being autistic means you will not be smart and creative! So proud of my little snow angel :)

Those eyes... oh those beautiful eyes!

They are truly windows to his beautiful soul!

The Face of Autism

9/22/09 As many of you know my son Hunter is mildly autistic ~ while most have seen him at his best. ESP since he is doing so well and learning so many skills to be successful :), There are those glimpses here and there that remind Dan and me of how in just a few seconds time things can change and our bright energetic happy little boy is suddenly someplace else for just a moment. Hunter struggles with motor planning and sensory isses, along with communication. Typically his communication is effected because his ability to motor plan is compromised. I'll explain it better... I want to share a photo of Hunter taken a couple weeks ago. Hunter and I were playing :) He was intrigued by the baby wipes box. I knew he wanted to get into it but he just stood there next to it unable to try to climb in, ask to get in.. etc etc.. I picked him up and placed him in the box sitting :) He was all smiles! I went and got the camera and took an adorable photo of him :) He sat and talked to himself for a while and just enjoyed his time in the box. I put the camera down and went about what I was doing. I noticed that suddenly he turned and lowered his head. And zoned out. We see maybe 5-6 on average a day. Some days more some days less. I walked over to him and began to talk to him and no response. There was no sound, no nothing. What had happened is he was all done in the box. His motor planning issues caused him to be unable to communicate to me that he was done and wanted out. He was in an odd position and the overload in thinking about how to get out or ask to get out made it harder on him to sort out how to ask for help. He was unable to do anything.. no cry, no scream, no words, no sign language... Even though he wanted to. It caused a sensory overload and so he shut down for a bit to reorganize. Wanting to and being unable to caused a sensory overload and so his eyes went blank. I watched him to see how long this one would last, they are typically 5 -8 secs. Some longer some shorter. This one seemed to go on for a while so I went and grabbed the camera again and took this photo ~ this one lasted about 20 seconds which is very long compared to others and why I was able to get it on camera. Then suddenly he snapped back and was with me again, as if it never happened. :) I got him out and he was all fine and happy :) I wanted to share this because so many of you have heard me talk about his blank stares (they are sensory ~ seizures have been ruled out) But many havent seen them. I have other photos of him but this one really hits me ~ in moments like this it makes me very sad. But most of the time he does so well and I am so greatful for the blessings I have with him :) Thanks for letting me share! :)