One bit of information makes the difference

When I take Ethan along to Charles' Boy Scout troop meetings, I can always tell who knows about Ethan's autism and who doesn't. Ethan spends most of his time jump or spinning. The people who know that he has autism always give us very warm, affectionate looks.

The people who don't scowl at him (and at me).

 

Via liberal japonicus I saw a story in the The Guardian about Glenn Campbell, who now has Alzheimer's. There was a quote from his daughter:

"When he messed up, people were coming up to me after shows and saying 'Is your dad drunk or is he using again?' It upset me. Now this is out they're just going to be supporting and loving him rather than angry that they paid to see him."

Different condition, but the same result.

Autism and trains

Interesting article in the New York Times about kids with autism who have a fascination with trains. The New York Transit Museum runs specials programs for them.

I wonder what my son would think of trains.

Acting Out the Story

The one-year-old's favorite book at the moment is Sandra Boynton's Blue Hat, Green Hat. The book features a turkey who can't seem to put his clothes on correctly. Each two-page spread has several animals with different colored articles of clothing (blue hat, green hat, yellow hat...). The last animal is always the turkey, and he always has the clothes on the wrong body part--pants over his head, coat on backwards, socks on his hands, etc. This weekend the one-year-old starting putting socks on his hands, shouting "Oh NO", and giggling. Just the same way he acts when we read the book.

Two-syllable words

In addition to ice and pie, I heard the one-year-old using two syllable words for this first time this weekend. He said "puppies" while we were reading one of his favorite books (Elmo's World Puppies), and "water" when I asked him what he wanted to drink.

Haircut

I got my hair cut last week. I hadn't gotten it cut for quite a while, so it was a fairly dramatic change. Apparently it was a dramatic enough change that the eight-year-old noticed. All this weekend, the eight-year-old kept walking up to me, usually from behind, and rubbing my head. It reminded me of the first time we had our golden retriever shaved. For a week or so afterward, he kept poking the dog's coat. It was as if he needed tactile proof of what his eyes were reporting.

New words

The one-year-old (who will turn two next month) is expanding his vocabulary at a rapid clip. Since I saw him on Wednesday he's added two new words: ice, and pie.

Scary moment

I have the boys with me this weekend. When I picked them up from their mom's, she mentioned that the eight-year-old had been having some trouble at school this week. She'd taken him to the Dr. because she thought it might be from sinus problems. He has a history of tantrums and head-butting that often goes away when we give him anti-histamines, and he had run out.

Shortly after we leave her house, the eight-year-old goes berserk in the back seat, hitting and head-butting the one-year-old who is strapped into his car seat next to him. I pulled over, jumped out, and yanked the eight-year-old out of the car. He was extremely agitated, hitting me, and trying to head-butt the parked cars. I called my ex and said that I needed help. The eight-year-old had gone nuts and I was afraid to put him back into the car next to the one-year-old.

She came and got him. I drove the other two, and she drove the eight-year-old. Then we traded cars for the weekend. So I'll have the mini-van, and can put the one-year-old and the eight-year-old in different rows where the eight-year-old can't reach the younger one. I remember being worried about the risk of this, but this is the first time since we separated that it's actually been an issue. I hope it doesn't last. The eight-year-old isn't big enough to ride in the front seat legally, and I can afford to buy a new vehicle with three rows of seating to keep them apart.