Omg...omg...omg...omg...omg...omg!!!!!!

[LIZARD]

Drew was out with his therapist, and she told me someone gave him a look during an "autistic moment." Drew looked at him and said, "I'm not crazy; I'm autistic!" (The guy said nothing to him.) OMG....He has never said this before, and I was warned at the conference that his self-awareness would be kicking in. As far as we know, it's not a a scripted response. I'm writing his teacher tonight to ask her.

WWWWWWOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


LIZARD, still tryin' to catch my breath!

[Braindrain]

Wow! Way to go, Drew!

[Isabelle]

is there any chance in the future to lose his dx of autism???

[LIZARD]

Hey, Isabelle.

Is that actually possible? I have always been wary of accounts of "recovery," as most of the comments I have heard from adults who were deemed recovered said they knew they weren't. "Habilitated"? Yeah...there may be a chance for that--a good one, I think. It's still evident to anyone who knows about autism that Drew has some classic traits, but it is becoming less and less.

We were talking about it tonight, and my husband said he recalled several times saying to Drew that he wasn't crazy (apparently Drew had asked); he was autistic, so now we at least have an idea of where this came from, but it's not scripted. He just seems to have figured it out.


LIZARD, continually amazed by my young man!

[Isabelle]

Keeping his autistic traits or rather respecting his particular personality will make him feel special. Hopefully he won't meet a bully or pay attention to negative comments. Best for his future!

[LIZARD]

Originally Posted by Isabelle

Keeping his autistic traits or rather respecting his particular personality will make him feel special. Hopefully he won't meet a bully or pay attention to negative comments. Best for his future!

The mere thought of bullies scares the crap out of me! I encountered them almost daily for 4 years as a kid myself (4th through 7th grade), and that, combined with "Oh, sh!t...I really do have this thing that can kill me or at least make my life a lot more difficult...and no one else does! (I didn't meet anyone else with hydro who didn't have retardation until college!) What will happen to me? How do I cope? How...How...HOW????!!!" made my pre-teen and teen years a living h3ll. I am so terrified of the realization phase for him. Of course, he lives in a world where so many others have autism, too, but there is still the sense of isolation when you don't meet someone who's "like" you. I know what that's like all too well. Being online saved my life. Too bad it wasn't possible 'til I was 25.

I'd like to think I'm just scared because of what I don't know, but somehow, I doubt that kids have enough compassion to allow him to avoid the onslought of hurt, fear, and isolation that overcame me, and I could at least speak up for myself.

LIZARD, excited for him, but scared to death, too...

[cckids]

I about died the same way when I went to conferences for our oldest, I had our younger son with me. The first thing he did was sniffed the table tops of each desk in the classroom then started rubbing his face on the cold brick wall. Our older teacher, not knowing "about Zach", stated "See now that's more what I expected Damon to be doing." She was talking more to the AI coordinator that was there with us (she know both boys). The AI coordinator just looked at her and stated "Eveybody rides the spectrum at a different part of the curve." The teacher was floored.