Autistic look at the world

I know that this is in part how my son views things, even though I can't really communicate with him. He talks all the time, but...about "nothing". His brain catalogues things and then he wants to repeat his lists. Part of this ritual includes me or his brother. We HAVE to respond with certain words at certain times or he starts all over again, or throws major tantrums. I think that he sees himself as a machine- person. He's been obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine, I think he really relates to a machine with rigid clean lines and functions, but then it has a human face. My son is also quite lovey and wants hugs a lot. They are on his terms, though. Kind of the way a cat is.

"Mom Ibis"

This is a picture of some ibis, I'll get to that in a second. My youngest son, 12, is Autistic. He doesn't really talk, but he says a lot of things, like lines from movies, mostly. When he says these random things, he requires a certain response from anyone else he might be in the room with. He comes up to me and touches my chin showing me that he wants me to talk, and repeats himself again and again if I don't respond the right way. If I fail to say what he needs to hear altogether, he'll launch into a full scale tantrum. A typical routine goes like this:
T:"It's Showtime!"
Me: "The Incredibles"
T: "BYOB!"
Me:"Bugs Life"
T:"Hey little guy..."
Me: "Finding Nemo"

I have to say the right movie, or else. It's hard when he adds a new one, sometimes I don't know it and there's an emergency family conference with my older son who can almost always figure out what he's referring to. He also does songs, where I have to do the next line, and he does that when he's upset. He does Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel, a song from The Sound of Music, and lately some duran duran, but for some reason when he does that one he's not mad.

Another thing that he does, is he names an animal and I have to make the noise of the animal. So, he'll say "Mom dog" and I have to bark like a dog. "Mom horse" and I have to whinny or something. This gets irritating, it sounds easy, but then he says, "Mom penguin" ??? or "Mom giraffe", "Mom unicorn". I suppose I can make a horse sound for a unicorn.


He has this children's book with obscure animals that he tortures me with, "Mom ibis!" he demands. It's easy to make up a bird sound, but then he says, "Mom ermine" gasp!

Mr. Bean

Our family loves Mr. Bean. My youngest son (12 and autistic) is obsessed with him. He watches the dvds until they're ruined and I have to buy more. Autism is a language disorder, autistics can't communicate conventionally. In Mr. Bean there is almost no language. The few words that are spoken are not needed, it's all context. And he's hilarious. Mind The Baby, Mr. Bean is probably the funniest episode, but there are so many to choose from. I don't know what my son is thinking, but he really seems to understand Mr. Bean.

I had a close friend a few years ago, mother of 6, who was dying of liver cancer and her thing was that she wanted to laugh. So I bought her a dvd set of all the Mr. Bean episodes. She's dead now, so I'm glad I have that memory.

Internationally, he's a big hit, but it stands to reason. There's no language barrier. Here in the Philippines the show is popular and the animated series is well known. There are t-shirts and backpacks, notebooks, and all kinds of merchandise here. I also saw episodes in China and Hong Kong. If you're ever faced with bridging a culture gap or language barrier, mention Mr. Bean, you'll see a face light up.

Remember when the British Sailors were taken captive in Iran, and they kept reporting that they were treated well? After they got home, the government pressured the captives to try to change the tone of the event for PR purposes (that's my take on the whole thing, anyway), and one story came out, "They mocked me and called me Mr. Bean!"

Now, I know I'm supposed to be aghast, but I couldn't help but laugh. Iranians holding British sailors captive, and what do they think of? Mr. Bean!

Even if it was meant as the worst possible insult...think about it...how bad is that? I think it's cute, and I also feel that Mr. Bean has bridged gaps that haven't even been contemplated. I wonder how many closed societies have seen Mr. Bean...I hope all of them.

Sunburned

May 1st our family and scads of my closest friends, about 30 of us, went to a beach for a day. It was really hot. It was really sunny, but my youngest autistic son has no concept of not going in the water. We're all sunburnt today. We minimized the burns using lotions and getting out of the sun and trying to stay covered, but my ankles and lower legs really got it. It's hard for me to walk.

My camera somehow broke at the beach. I'm thinking maybe it got too hot. So I didn't get to take pictures of the boat ride, or anything. I'm bummed. It was a good day though. The kids really needed a day out.

Up All Night

Again. My younger, autistic son has issues. He's been keeping us up at night all week with violent tantrums, so Saturday I'm going to see if I can take him to a doctor for some sedatives. He's never been on meds before. I think he's always needed them, but I haven't gotten them. I'm glad that I've endured and waited. But now that he's getting in to adolesence and more powerful, it's got to happen. I have too many bruises and the quality of his older brother's life is important as well.