As my son grows older and becomes better at managing his autism, I find myself when in company, having to bite my tongue some what . As time passes he is developing copeing strategies of his own, without assistants he has begun to discipline himself in his day to day management of his autism .
He is now fully aware that he is not like everyone else . I have made every attempt to help him realise that this is not a bad thing but on the other hand he has something that is unique . Something I think , that is to be envied . Few children of age 13 could have such focus when pursuing their interests ,or be so dedicated to a task as to not leave the job in hand until it is well and truly finished and this applies to all aspects of life .
Although we don't always agree on what is the true definition of finished , when it comes to his food. There has to be something left on the plate , of about one or two mouthfuls . Why ? I have no idea . He knows why , and that is what is important and in the scheme of things this does no harm .
Since I learnt my son was on the spectrum (high functioning) I have been a keen observer of human behaviour . I have watched him interact with other children and adults and noted peoples reactions to him. Sometimes his speech is jilted , sometimes it is monotone and without emotion .What is fascinating to me at this time in his life is how like other teenagers he seems , because the firing hormones have a similar affect on many boys his age. The point I am trying to make is that you could meet my son for the first time and not think he was any different to other boys of his age , you would have to talk to him for some time before small signs of his autism would present .
And that is where I have to bite my tongue , when I am told ' he does not seem autistic at all '. But what they are not aware of is that the whole time he is interacting with other people . or out and about ,on a bus crossing a road , in a shop and so on . He is using all of his self taught skills to manage any given situation he is in . Sometimes it can be excruciating for him .
He knows what needs to be done and he knows how it should be done , but he has to manage the panic , block out the noises , focus his mind . He truly loves life and life's adventure , and he is not going to let a thing like autism get in his way .
My brave son .
