2nd question for Silentmiaow..and other understanding souls

[Mother's Heart]

In case you don't already know this: My son has recently become able to write (with minimal assistance just to give sensory feedback to his hand) and can now both express/explain some of who he is to those of us who were unable to understand him before. He can now also communicate with those of us on this side when he needs to work with us in our language.
A little while back he explained to me that he wasn't trying to be bad or make a mess in the bathroom that morning but he was just being in there with the water and it thanked him for splashing it out of the tub. :)

I loved the comment but probably misinterpreted it from an nt mother viewpoint as a lovely, and entertaining, thought. (At least I avoided the insensitive mistake of assuming it to be a devious comment made to excuse himself from trouble)
I then went on to wonder how much of the hours of time he spends communing with the water it actually speaks to him. ? I'm sure he meant it thanked him in a different way than I would understand....but I have to love the idea that he is enjoying a special relationship with the water he so treasures spending time with, and that it means more to him than just something static that is interesting to look at/touch/alter to pass time.

I guess my reason for posting to you is to ask if you understand his perspective on this.

[Isabelle]

i hope you get silentm... perspective.

in my son's case he has always enjoyed water, ocean (Florida) since he was 4 and no fear whatsoever. so shower at home was fun time, loud singing, q/a, teaching the routine of a good self-care, most important respect and discretion for his use of the toilet, etc. then at the group home came this...lets' call him "person" and made his self-care a joyless activity. so back home the first thing we work on was to make it safe and fun again,it's taking a long time but we are getting there.....

Oh! I got it! He is pretending, make believing that the water is a being communicating with him. Well! That's a good imagination!
So, did you explain to him that's make believe and is good imagination for fun, did he say something? It's good to explain the difference between what belongs to the world of imagination (It's not bad, daydreaming is not bad either) and what's reality.

[silentmiaow]

I doubt this is pertinent to what Mother's Heart asked, but that last part of what Isabelle said is really important. I went through the "acting out what's in my imagination" phase later -- much later -- than most children do. I was in fact in puberty when I started doing that, and I did it as earnestly and steadfastly as any young toddler who insists their fantasies are real (and continued to do so throughout most of my teenage years). Because of my age at the time it happened (and a number of other things happening all twisted together), people actually thought I was hallucinating/delusional/etc. It's really important to know that autistic kids can go through that phase (or stay in that phase) much later, because I spent years being treated for a break with reality that didn't really exist.

[Mother's Heart]

It's really important to know that autistic kids can go through that phase (or stay in that phase) much later, because I spent years being treated for a break with reality that didn't really exist.

hmm. thank you. you're right, this IS an important piece of information.

[Mother's Heart]

Amanda, Do you think 'the water thanking him' makes sense, from a viewpoint of his interacting with the things in his environment?

[silentmiaow]

It could, to him. If he thinks the water "wants" to be outside of the bathtub, and he's sort of personifying the water a bit.