My Family's Experience with Autism: They are still children

Monday, April 18, 2011

They are still children

And they are still twins. As we were reading bedtime stories tonight, we saw the proof that they learn from each other. Yes, Rachel and Simon may be oblivious to the people in the world around them (at times). But they are also perceptive. And they, as we already knew, are very smart.

Tonight, one of the books I chose (and Kevin was reading) was "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See". It's a definite favorite. All 3 kids love this book, Rachel and Simon in particular can't get enough of it. Both programs have used this book on multiple occasions to work on colors and animals, animal sounds -- it's a great book for learning.

Simon's sense of humor has him regularly say something that he knows is incorrect. He will insist on it and then, when he perceives you are going to give in, he announces "Silly Simon!". One such thing is during this book. Instead of a "Teacher", Simon has been saying "Monitor" (we don't know why -- at first we could have SWORN he was saying "Mother", but he has proven to us that he means "Monitor"). Tonight, Simon was willing to accept "Teacher". So, Rachel picked up the slack. From her mouth, she shouted "Monitor!"

We love seeing these moments. In addition to them showing their personalities, it reminds us that they are twins. That they learn from each other. That they rely on each other. And that's something that they will have forever. They know each other in ways that others can't even begin to imagine (unless they themselves are a multiple). Their relationship defies description. And we are privileged to see this nearly every day.

1 comment:

One Rich MotherApril 19, 2011 at 4:23 AM
I loved reading this. So sweet. Thank you for sharing it. {{hug}}
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A Little Bit About Me and My Family

Every once in a while, something happens to a family that seems to change everything, whether that change is positive, negative, or in an uncertain direction. One such thing happened to us in March 2009, when we were informed our 26 month old twins (girl/boy) were BOTH on the autism spectrum. Their older brother (nearly 4 at the time) had always been ahead of the curve for most developmental milestones, so we had never really considered that some of the delays the twins were having had anything to do with autism. Well, we were wrong. Since then we have been learning about learning techniques and doing everything we can to make sure they get any and all help they need so that they can live normal lives. This blog chronicles that journey.

The Autism Pizza

I don't know where this came from originally, but I found it on a post on Circle of Moms. It's a good explanation of how things line up on the spectrum.

1. The Crust: Lack of Social Interaction (poor eye contact, not sharing interests with you, no pointing/gesturing)

2. The Sauce: Impaired Communication (possibly no speech, poor conversation skills, repetitive language, echolalia, no make-believe play)

3. The Cheese: Stereotypical Activities & Interests (extreme routine, strong interest in certain things, stimming [flapping, atypical play, etc.] -- like spinning wheels, lining toys up, stacking, etc.)

If you have all of those things: crust, sauce, cheese, you made an Autism pizza. It might have different toppings, but you can look at it and know it's still a pizza. If your pizza doesn't have sauce, that's Aspergers's. If your pizza is missing more than that but still kind of looks like a pizza, that's PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified)