Words of Wisdom

Youth is wasted on the young.

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Keeping Myself Amused

In a constant state of worry over my teen and my inability to write about it lest it be viewed and my penchant for broadcast exposed, I have resorted to funny photos.
This is Pippin, about to take out someone's eye over the complete and utter humiliation involved in being a boy cat in a girl's bedroom. If you look closely at his upper lip you can see the slight scar on the right which is where he keeps getting his lip caught on his lower tooth. I must try and get a picture; it is terrifying to behold (and kind of funny). This next shot is my all time favourite anniversary card. I couldn't actually give it to anybody, but it just cracks me up looking at it!

But the best bit is inside.... bwahahahahahahaha!

Oh well, at least I am still laughing.

I have been sewing for a the school dance troupe too but I will keep that photo until Tuesday so I can finally participate in Crafty Tuesday again. Today I'm off to help Bestie paint a wall as her back does not permit her to do such things anymore.

Yesterday I met a 12 year old autistic boy who may be coming to our school next year. He was hilarious! Active, high maintenance, but such a delight. He greeted me by my first name as he could read it off my badge and then greeted the Principal the same way! It was hysterical. He informed me that many people read names off badges, that's why people wear them. The Principal kindly informed him that 'Mr T' would be more appropriate.

In the end I had to take him on a 'tour' around the school so the principal could get the parents alone to talk. There was no way he wasn't going to be involved in any discussions! As we toured the school he became more and more excited by all the facilities. His hands flapped, he bent over and straightened up again, he jumped up and down with whoops of delight. When I opened the door to the gym he raced across the empty floor like a young calf loosed from the race at a rodeo. He stopped halfway across and turned back to me with an ear to ear grin.
"I really like this school!" he beamed.

He did have a penchant for sticking his face right up against the windows of the classrooms we passed but he jumped back suddenly as he realised the children within were staring at him.
"They're all looking at me," he said with some alarm.
"Well, they're just surprised to see you," I explained.
"They looked very surprised," he said with mild concern, "I could see by their faces they were surprised."
"Well, they don't usually have people looking at them through the windows and they don't know you."
I could see him processing this.
Wait, they could see me too?
For the autistic mind there is only his point of view. It had not occurred to him as he observed the classes that they could observe him right back! I loved watching him take on this new understanding and modify his behaviour accordingly. I don't know if he will come to our school, but I think he would be an amazing blessing to the community. He was so joyful and enthusiastic. There's nothing like an autistic person to teach you about yourself.

5 comments:

Elisa said...

Love the description of your guest! Neat to see how he was clearly repeating things he had been told/taught about the way some things work....I'll bet you could just about see the wheels turning in his head.

I hope that your new friend ends up at the school! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi my lovely daughter just had to tell you that I have just finished reading a fantastic book about a boy with Aspergers.It is written by Jodi Picoult and is fabulous.Her research for the book included speaking to people with the syndrome and believe me if anyone is unfamiliar with the subject they will learn a lot by reading this story.It is called "House Rules" and is told in the first person by each character.Please read it because even though you do know about Aspergers it you will love this story.Ma

Arizaphale said...

Elisa: wheels turning indeed! A good description!
Ma: Funny! I was looking at this book JUST TODAY!!!! One of my colleagues is reading it and showed it to me! When life becomes quiet perhaps??

Stacy said...

That is a sweet story about the autistic boy. They do have such a unique view of the world.

Oh, and I love that card, too LOL! You would have to know the couple really, really well to give them that card. ;)

Jill said...

That card IS funny! I'm sorry about the teen worry. Having some myself although my current problems seem trivial compared to the nightmare that characterized age 14.

So sweet and funny on the boy! I especially liked his comment about the name tags! I'll have to look at that book your mom recommended too. In preschool, we tend to be the ones trying to catch onto the possibility of autism. Very rarely does anyone come to us already diagnosed.