I love to talk about my child to just about anyone who will listen, or in this case read. I do write/talk of his Autism, but I'd rather for the most part focus on who he is a person. I don't like to identify him as being autistic, more that he has Autism. If that sounds confusing - and it even does to me sometimes - let me clarify. Autism is something he has, but there is much more to him than being an autistic boy. He has so many other facets to him. Some of his personality quirks come from the fact that he does have Autism but like I said, he's so much more than that.
Here are a few tidbits about my sweet boy:
- He's an only child: I never intended to have an only but that's just the way things worked out. People sometimes still ask me if I ever plan to have another and the answer for the last 5 years or so has been a big, fat, "no!" Actually that's not completely true.. my reaction depends on how well I know the person asking that.. if it's a stranger or someone I don't know well they get the aforementioned answer. If I know the person better and I don't think my true reaction of , "Are you f*cking kidding me?" would offend I say that instead. I was on the fence about having another even prior to his diagnosis and that did factor into our decision to not have any more children, but it wasn't the only reason. I have to admit that I did think and worry about the statistics of producing future children that would be diagnosed with an ASD. I think that's normal because the stats are pretty high, but it's not a for sure thing either that that would've happened if we had had another. I know of plenty of families who have both typically developed children and children with Autism. I just keep seeing what to me were signs that sticking with having Nick as our only was the way to go for our little family. No real regrets though so far. Sometimes I wonder if we made the right decision or not, but what's done is done and there are no more babies on the horizon for us. Nick keeps me on my toes and fills my heart with so much love that he's enough for me. Corny but true.
-He's my very own version of Pigpen: Like Charlie Brown I have a little tornado of dirt and crumbs in my life. Each time I see Pigpen I truly think of my boy. Messes just seem to follow him wherever he goes. The minute he comes home from school dirt just magically seems to appear and disarray is everywhere. If I was a true neat freak I would be following him around with a dust buster for sure. I like things to be clean and neat but I really don't need that all of the time. That's a good thing too because this is a battle I couldn't win and with my son I truly believe in picking my battles. As he's gotten older he's been better about picking up after himself on occasion. When he does it without being asked it makes me so happy and he loves the praise I heap on him when that happens. It rarely does but that's okay.. it DOES happen from time to time so I have hope it'll happen more often someday.
- He loves him some spicy food: I've never known a child who loves tangy, zesty food as much as my child. I can blame myself for that too. Until I was pregnant with him I never liked spicy food.. at all. Suddenly I was smothering my food in hot sauces and craving the heat while carrying him. Nick started wanting hot sauce on things like chicken strips and french fries when he was about 5 or 6. Now we go through a large bottle of Frank's Red Hot about once a month. It makes him happy and I've never noticed any digestive distress with him eating like that so I don't mind him doing that. It is pretty funny to see the stares he gets if he does that in public though!
- He's got an incredible sense of humor: I've often referred to him as a (mostly) non-verbal smartass and it's really true. He loves to both laugh at people and at himself. Nearly all of the people who've worked with him - therapists, teachers, and babysitters alike - have mentioned that about him. Sometimes when I am in the middle of doing something like cooking he'll take something that I have set aside and need and hide it from me. There's no malice in that, that's just Nick being a little stinker and trying to play a trick on me. The minute he sees me looking for what he's put somewhere else he begins to giggle. Also, if he knows you don't want him to do something that's generally minor in nature he will do it and give you a smile with twinkling eyes that tells you that he knows EXACTLY what he's doing and is amused with himself. Total smartass he is! I'd like to just blame his dad when it comes to this but that wouldn't be completely true at all. Poor kid has it on both sides like poor eyesight and a hard-headed nature.
There are so many little things about Nick that I love to share and will do that too. He fascinates me and I've often said that I'd give anything to be able to climb inside his brain and spend some time there. I think it would help me understand him better and I could pass that information on to others that interact with him as well. Obviously that's not possible, but it is a nice wish to have.
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