I wrote this for the Flash Blog. "This is Autism" @
http://thisisautismflashblog.blogspot.ca/
This is autism for our family:
A - ALL different
U - Untypical
T - Talk to US about it!
I - Integrity
S - Special Interests (or...Seals [and Pokemon, and plants, and animals...])
M - My son, me, our faMily, our coMMunity...
Love,
Full Spectrum Mama
Showing posts with label seals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seals. Show all posts
Monday, November 18, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
“free messages would you like one?”
The other day, G came home with this question taped to the front
of his shirt:
Figure I – “free messages would you like one”
We live in a crunchy-granola community, wherein students and
teachers are liable to offer a little shoulder rub when someone looks down. G
got quite a few after the whole popularity imbroglio. Then, after G’s class
began to directly address inclusion issues (and people had begun paying a
little more attention to the more marginalized kids in class), G had begun to
offer shoulder massages on his own, probably as a known method of connecting with
other students. He was recognized as being pretty good at giving these mini-massages
and decided to engage in a little self-promotion, as above.
Giving massages brought G some social acceptance…so much so
that he thought it would be a great idea to advertise on his own body.
I worried, seeing that sign, that G was following a course I
chose early on of substituting acceptance of my generosity for acceptance of me
as a person. We Spectrumites often have
porous boundaries, and when we opt for giving, takers may abound.
Nevertheless G seemed really happy, said he had a lot of
people who “let him” give them shoulder rubs.
His teacher apparently told him he might have a good career
as a massage therapist, but G objected, stating that his chosen career as a
marine biologist was more important.
“But what about the good you could do for people?” his
teacher asked.
“Who needs help more, people, who can help themselves…or
seals?” G responded.
Please let me know if you need a message – I can get ‘em for
free.
Love,
Full Spectrum Mama
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