More adventures in autism...
FANGS FOR THE MEMORIES :)
Sometimes kids on the autism spectrum have a difficult time understanding the basic feelings and functions of the human body. Many people with autism experience a disconnect between the physical sensation they have and what to think about it. This can manifest itself in all sorts of ways and it can affect how they read hunger (overeating/undereating), pain (extremes in tolerance), pressure sensations (hugging too hard/too soft, for example) and all of the other internal signals we get from our body. It has to do with how the brain of a person living with autism is wired and it's something that I am sure I will never completely comprehend. Needless to say, Drew has had issues describing symptoms and pain. He also gets freaked out by normal bodily functions sometimes and the most recent occurance of this has been with his first loose tooth.
He is a late bloomer when it comes to losing teeth. Most of the kids his age have been losing teeth since pre-K. So he had a wiggler for quite awhile and the first time he noticed it was loose, he was very anxious. We calmed him down and explained the process that usually excites kids and he allowed himself to calm down about it. Instead of trying to speed the process along or allowing us to check in with him on the status of his tooth, he refused to wiggle it out or even discuss it. "Don't talk about it." That's what we heard when we asked.
This morning at breakfast, he munched his cinnamon bread and the tooth finally lost it's grip on Drew's gumline. He calmly called for me and he said he lost his tooth. After I went to the kitchen to make sure the Tooth Fairy's bounty was accounted for, I gave him some water to rinse his mouth out. At this point (and with incredibly bad timing as we needed to leave for school THEN), he got upset. I talked him down and reminded him that it meant he was getting older and that I could already see his permanent tooth coming in. He pulled it together and accepted my mothering.
Losing teeth is something that usually gives parents a moment of reflection about how their baby is growing up, blah, blah, blah. I didn't get to have that moment until well after I got him to school because I had to spend time explaining and calming him down. Here's hoping the next teeth come out with less drama now that he "gets" it.
IN A COMPLETELY UNRELATED DEVELOPMENT
On the way home from school, Drew tells me he has to tell me something. There was a long (LONG) pause during which I white-knuckled the steering wheel and prepared myself for the worst. He told me that he saw a girl in another class stand on her seat in the cafeteria during lunch. A classmate sitting next to Drew at their table said to him, "I'll give you 300 bucks if you go and tell on that girl." So...he did. And guess what Mr. Concrete thinks he's getting from this chick tomorrow? Yeah. I was hit smack in the face with yet another "issue" that many people with autism struggle with. Sarcastic humor and jokes. Oh, boy. I explained to him that the girl was kidding and that he wouldn't be getting money. He was really, really quiet for a full minute and I glanced at him in the rear view mirror to see if I could read his face. He was thinking and then he said, "Are you really, really serious? You mean I'm not getting money." I had to say no. He. Was. Crushed. Absolutely, for real, full-on crying bitter tears. I felt so awful for him. I tried to explain again to make sure he understood but he told me to "be quiet." I let the disrespect slide this time because, let's face it, I know that from lunchtime on, he was planning on how he was going to spend his easily earned money. I know this kid. He had plans for this money.
Life here is many things but it is never, ever boring.
