Dropping the A word

I read an article yesterday on CNN regarding how to tell your child that they are really sick. It made me think, how and when do you tell your child they have Autism. I can't recall in all the Autism books I've read, discussing how to inform your child of this.

For me, when I think about telling Little Bug, I don't want the conversation to be about limits- "Because of Autism, you can't....". I don't think that's true. I may know what the odds of doing something- speech, dressing or toileting independently, living on his own, getting a job are, but I don't know if I would tell him that he can't do something because someone says the statistics show that he won't.

I have a feeling that although this isn't necessarily applicable right now, I will mull on this for a while.

The past few days have been a roller coaster ride of severe ups and downs for Little Bug. We think that is because he hasn't gone to school in a week due to the weather. We try, we really do, to do the magic that Therapists A and L do, but we are inadequate for we are merely human. (Seriously, some of the things they can do is awe inspiring and make me wonder if they are other worldly.)

He has become very routinized in everything- he has to put the puzzles together in the same order each time, eats his dinner in the same pattern, and has been creating lines of everything. He had the mother of all meltdowns yesterday because he couldn't get the little snow balls that he had created to line up perfectly. He laid face down in the snow and refused to get up. At 32 pounds and over 3 feet tall, he is becoming a physical force to be reckoned with when he becomes Captain Noodle Boy! (His super power is a complete lack of control over his body allowing him to pool like liquid into a puddle of a toddler) I briefly thought about donating him to charity last night when he bit the dog, but reconsidered when he said sorry to the dog and gave him a hug.

On the upside, we tried a new food- Cars Chicken Noodle Soup without the Soup. He ate half a can of it. The only new road bump for sensory issues is his increased tactile and auditory sensitivity. He has begun covering his ears at airplanes and the vacuum and now cries when something gets on his hands.

I think we will survive 3 weeks without school.