I was in the grocery store waiting for a prescription at the pharmacy. I browsed the books while I was waiting and came across this book by Jodi Piccoult:
This is what it says on the inside flap:
"They tell me I'm lucky to have a son who's so verbal, who is blisteringly intelligent, who can take apart the broken microwave and have it working again an hour later. They think there is no greater hell than having a son who is locked in his own world, unaware that there's a wider one to explore. But try having a son who is locked in his own world, and still wants to make a connection. A son who tries to be like everyone else, but truly doesn't know how."
Wow, did that ever strike home. My spectrum kiddo is SO social. It made him hard to diagnose, actually. He always wants to be with friends. He is always trying to talk to the kids in his church class or people we meet at the park - but they usually don't know what to make of my kid. What motivates him to get his work done is the thought of playing outside with his friends later. And when they can't play he's usually crushed. But sometimes/often it's hard to watch his interactions with his friends.
Sometimes it all goes south so quickly.
One afternoon this week several boys decided to be really mean to him. REALLY mean. I won't get into details, but it was particularly awful that afternoon.
When your kid gets their feelings hurt, it breaks your heart a little.
When my spectrum kiddo gets his feelings hurt... it SUCKS. There's not another word for it. Breaks my heart bigtime, and while we've dealt with teasing quite a bit it NEVER gets easier. I was in tears right along with him - shouldn't I be used to it by now?
It SUCKED.
He didn't get it either, at least not right away, and I was repeatedly trying to tell him 'Hey, they're not being nice right now, let's go do something else' which he didn't want to do. He just kept saying 'But they're my friends."
Not right now, kiddo.
What a crappy afternoon.
This has been the hardest part of having a special needs kid, I think. Sometimes I wonder if our life would be easier with less kids around to play with (or want to play with constantly). We live on a circle with ELEVEN little boys. It gets a little nuts. So sometimes I wish we could just go live up in the woods with plenty to do, but maybe not so many people.
Or, maybe not.
So I'm sending virtual big hugs to all the "Special" moms out there. You might need them today.
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The book sounds kinda interesting, but the premise is quite a bit like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time which I really enjoyed. I don't know if I'll read this one. It's also interesting that she came out with this book (and NBC came out with a show) about Aspergers right when it is announced that Aspergers will no longer be a separate diagnosis from Autism.
