A La Aspie

Crossposted to Trusera

Usually, my son, he just leaves shirts with buttons buttoned at the end of the day. He totally pulls it off over his head so that when he wears it again, he can just pull it back on over his head. And usually, even the shirts without buttons are on backwards and/or inside out. Although, I have to say that it is especially cute when the button-ups are inside out.

Usually, his pants are too big around the waist so that he can pull them down without unbuttoning them. Usually, unless a button is exceptionally easy, he has to have help and usually that is quite embarrassing for a pre-adolescent boy of his intellectual level.

Used to be, his handwriting was absolutely atrocious. He has this kind of awkward way of holding a pencil… reminiscent of a south paw’s over-the-top-of-the-page grip… but with his right hand.

He’s never really enjoyed reading because it was difficult for him. And really, I think it was only ever difficult for him because it required focus and he’s totally a natural skimmer.

The shoes… OH THE SHOES. With the laces. That flop and blow in the breeze. Because they were never tied. Because. He. Refused. To. Consider. That. Tying. Was. Necessary.

I was thrilled Friday to actually observe him in the act of buttoning his own shirt all the way down the front by himself. And he only missed one button - and it was near the bottom so that doesn’t matter anyways. I mean, really… he’s still short. WHO’S LOOKING THAT FAR DOWN?

I also noticed that his handwriting has gotten MUCH neater. It’s clean and legible. However, not only is cursive entirely ridiculously complicated for him, but I’ve had a hard time convincing him of it’s importance. Like him, I’d rather print and never really did adopt cursive. It’s still a struggle to get him to focus on developing it.

He sat down a read a full book not too long ago. Not because he HAD to but because he wanted to. I texted his dad with the good news. Your son… he’s enjoying a book!

I also noticed that although his level of involvement in school has markedly increased this year, the number of complaints home have not. And although that could simply be a grievous error on the part of the school, I prefer to think that it’s more likely learning to function a little better on his part.

He still doesn’t do the shoe tying thing very quickly or efficiently. Stumbling along, only to accomplish something short of barely wishing the two laces would stay together, it becomes a quite complicated ordeal. We opt for Velcro. It makes mom and boy happy and we are content with that.

For the most part, he seems to be catching up with the coordination milestones that were really holding him up and for the most, part, that is a HUGE accomplishment. I’m so excited and proud for him!

But I can’t help but sigh an inner sigh for the fact that he’s quickly coming to the point where he will no longer appear disabled and will need to advocate for himself all the harder.

It’s really hard, for him, a pre-adolescent-very-much-smarter-than-you boy, to say “I don’t understand” or “please help me”. The “please” part, especially.

Also may have been crossposted to my Asperger's Syndrome blog on Trusera.com, a site where people show health related stories. Check it out!