6/25/08 Part 2

I have a google alert set to send me any articles that have teh words "Autism & Recovery" in the article. Which often brings me to another mother's blog site http://blog.anautismrecovery.com/ I often like to see/hear stories about the how to explain autism and it's heartbreak to someone who hasn't personally experienced it on a day to day basis. She wrote a story about heartbreak of water day at her son's school so I decided to share it with you all. I know some of you think we are crazy for all we are doing and someone very very close to meeven admitted she thought I was going over board until she saw the presentation at our house and then realized that we are just great parents. If you read this story, it's just another reason one out of a million that we will never give up on helping Tyler reach his fullest potential. On a great note... the other day, Tyler initiated ring around the rosie with another child at daycare (usually he only does this with adults) and then when another girl wanted to play, he let her play too :) 8 Months ago, Tyler would have been sitting in the corner with his truck/car flipped upside down, spinning the wheels while the other kids played. He would have been oblivious to the fact that they were even in the room and certainly not interested in playing with them. Initiating any type of play would have been unheard of! THANK YOU EVERYONE for helping him come so far. Just remembering back to how it was just a short time ago compared to now, brings tears to my eyes. THANK YOU...THANK YOU...THANK YOU...

The Heartbreak of Water Day
On summertime Fridays, Logan’s preschool has water day. Basically, their morning playground time is accompanied by a water sprinkler. The kids wear their swim gear and sunblock and then after water time, they get changed into regular clothes.
Logan enjoys a good time around a water sprinkler at home in our backyard. But he absolutely hates it at school. He always chooses to just watch the other kids play in the water. I really don’t know what that’s about, but he’s been very consistent with it. At this point, he doesn’t even want to consider wearing any swim clothes to school, even “just in case” he changes his mind. And we don’t fight him on that point, which I sometimes wonder about being a mistake, since...well, “just in case” he changes his mind once he gets there.
Anyway, so last Friday I take him to school and the kids in his class are already outside playing in the water. He of course is not dressed to do the same. We walk through the empty classroom together...sort of. I’m more dragging him along toward the outside door so he can join his classmates.
Noting his hesitation, I ask him if he wants to swing instead of playing in the water. He says “Yes. Can I swing the other way?”. I told him he could if he wanted to and we said our goodbyes. Once he had made his first steps onto the playground, I went back through the building to my car.
As I drove away, I saw him swinging, his back to me, the playground, and all the other kids, facing the fence, and all alone. Autism.
My heart broke, and I nearly cried on the way to the office.
I wish I had taken a picture of that scene. I would keep it to remind me what we were fighting to change. And I could use it to visually explain Logan’s particular point on the spectrum to anyone who might ask.
I picked him up early that day and we played hard. I wasn’t worried about therapy, co-regulation, resilience, episodic memory, vitamins, or anything else. That day, I just made sure he had fun.