One more today for April’s Autism Awareness. Today Andrea will be sharing with us about Alex’s Brutal Honesty…

Autism Awareness Month: Alex’s Brutal Honesty

If you know a person with Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome, then you most likely know that they are often very honest, brutally honest. They often are only interested in telling the truth in a situation no matter how it affects people’s feelings. I am not trying to lump everyone with Autism into this category, but Alex definitely fits in with those who are like this. 

In the past, Alex will typically tell me the truth about anything I ask him. If I ask him if he spilled something on the floor or messed something up, he will answer, “yes” (if he did it). If he didn’t do it, he will throw Annika or Lincoln under the bus in a heartbeat. However, there have been times lately where he does lie to us.

For example, Alex does a lot of oral stimming (I will discuss this in another post).

He likes to chew on zippers a lot, and you will often find him chewing on his jacket – he seems to like to do this on the bus. He will get off the bus, and half of his jacket will be soaking wet. We get up to the house, and I will ask him if he chewed on his jacket. He will typically answer, “No”. I then make him look me in the eye, and I ask him again, and he will then tell the truth. So, I guess he is starting to learn things from his brother and sister .

 

I have to admit that we do sometimes get excited when he does tell a small lie – I guess it makes us feel like he is doing something that “typical” children often do.

Alex is typically very honest with his answers to questions and things he tells you. At times, I have to admit that his brutal honesty has been embarrassing. Alex loves to be the person to push the buttons when we get in elevators. When we are at the hospital, the elevators are typically busy, and there are often people in them when we get in. I try to explain to Alex that he can’t push around people to get to the buttons (he doesn’t understand a person’s personal space or social etiquette). He will look at the people and scream, “I DON’T LIKE PEOPLE!!! Why do they have to be in here and push the buttons?”. Thank goodness a lot of times people can’t understand what he is saying because he is yelling so fast and loud .

There have also been a couple of times in church where we tell him it is time to go in front of the church for Children’s Church, and he slams down his iPad, screams “I don’t like church! Why do we have to come to church?” as he walks up the aisle and hits the back of seats when he comes to them.

Yes, we sometimes want to crawl into a hole …

I have also learned that Alex can tell when people honestly care about him and really want to be his true friend. But, I will talk more about this in a later post.

 

To be continued…..

We are still in the midst of April’s Autism Awareness. Today Andrea’s shares about Alex’s obsessions…

Autism Awareness Month: Alex’s Obsessions

If you know a child with Autism, you have probably noticed that they often get fixated on certain items. To kids with autism, these objects are familiar and predictable. They often help them in dealing with anxiety or get them calm in an environment that is uncomfortable to them.

Alex has had several different fixations/obsessions over the years. At one point, he was obsessed with salt shakers. When I would leave the room to change Annika’s diaper or something, he would scoot a chair over to the cabinet. He would then crawl on top of the countertop, grab for the shaker, and pour as much as he could out before I got to him. “Salt” would be the first thing he said when he came downstairs in the morning.

Alex also went through a stage where he was obsessed with balls. It didn’t matter what kind of ball, what shape, etc. He just loved balls. I can’t tell you how many balls we owned. He would sleep with them all over his bed. 

Then, his next obsession was lawn mowers. He would sit and talk to them and play with them for hours. He would go back and forth in the yard mowing with them. We always joked that he would be a landscaper when he grew up.

 

I think we counted we had around 16 or so between our house and my parents’ house. He still likes them, but we have been able to get rid of most of them. When he was in the hospital for his cancer treatments, he would have to sleep with one most nights!

The latest obsession which has lasted quite a while is balloons and inflatables. He really became obsessed with balloons while he was in the hospital. This may have been his way of coping with all of his treatments – I am not sure.

 

I just know that no matter what his little body was going through, a balloon made him very happy, and he would sleep with it and talk to it. He loves inflatables which range from bounce houses to pool rings and floats.

I can’t even begin to think of how many beach balls, swim rings, inflatable seahorses, etc. that we own. When he isn’t blowing one up, he is looking them up on his iPad and doing screen shots of them. He knows the manufacturer and model of each ring, float, etc.

For a while, we struggled thinking we should move him away from these little obsessions, but we realize they are his calming mechanism. I think his surroundings often over stimulate him or confuse him, and this is his comfort. So, we go along with it.

If you see us at the ball field, you will most likely see Alex with one of his inflatables. I apologize if you get knocked over by it or hit in the head . We get odd looks when we go places with these things, but so be it. When I asked Alex what he wants for his birthday this month, he listed various inflatables. It makes him happy, and in the end, that is what we want for all of our kids.