The funny quirks of living with someone with autism.

Just a few words today since April is Autism Awareness Month. Having a son that has Aspergers Syndrome is sometimes a challenge. Most people may have never heard of it before. I know I hadn’t until my son was diagnosed with it. He really struggled in school with “social skills”. He would freak out if someone sat too close to him or touched him and would cry over things that others around him may not even notice. It was devastating to him if he didn’t know the answers to questions asked by his teachers. He was a loner and wouldn’t join in when the class was having class discussions and would sit apart from the rest of his classmates.

Kids are brutally honest sometimes and quite often that honesty can turn cruel. He got teased a lot and picked on quite a bit. It was heartbreaking everytime, because what appeared to be weakness was in reality a love and compassion for everyone. When you like people, it’s hard to be mean back to them, even when they are the aggressors When he was small, I would give him his allowance of various coins and a few bills. And almost every time we went somewhere that had a donation box on the counter, such as McDonalds, he would empty his pockets of coins and bills into the donation box with the simple explanation, “They need it more Dad”. CHECKMATE! Taught by a six year old.

A few of his “quirks” are funny and quite challenging. He won’t eat hot dogs unless the ends are cut off. He tears the edges off of his bread. He won’t eat anything unless he reads the ingredients on the package. If he doesn’t eat all of the saltines in a package, he won’t go back and get them…He insist on a new package. He hates change and would wear the same clothes everyday if I let him. He loves scotch tape and uses it on everything. He has a routine and hates to deviate from it.

But it also comes with some amazing things also. He can draw and paint with an uncanny talent. He can hear a song once and remember almost all of the lyrics. He can tell you about battles during WW2, the major people involved and the types of weapons they used that intrigue even veterans that fought that war. His sense of humor is unforgettable.

The thing I find most amazing is that at a week away from his 16th birthday, he still often comes up to me, he as tall as I am, and puts his arms around my neck, gives me big hug, and says “I love you dad. You are the best father in the world”. I wouldn’t change that for a “normal” kid in a million years.

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