Well 15 years have passed and as Rudi approaches his 16th birthday this year and at such a crucial time with a lot of changes afoot, you can imagine it's a pretty daunting thought. He will very soon be going out into the world as an adult with autism trying to navigate the complexities of life. He is already realising that certain things he has been able to get away with as a child up to now will no longer be tolerated. At almost 5'10" and still growing he still has the baby face of a boy much younger. Recently he said to me 'I don't want to be grown up'. This comes as he is now aware that his craving for physical contact, tickling or stroking his arms is not althogether appropriate for his age, especially when we are out in public. The world of autism and familiarity being a comfort can be at odds with the wider society. Many of us parents may also feel an awful wrench as for some of our children touch is something that we use as a communication tool. It can also be a comfort for us as well as our children, as it can often be the only form of emotion between us. Touch helps us make a connection with our children, especially if we have child who has little or no speech. Although complex and we have a lot of ups and downs our children though do provide us with moments of hilarity thatt most parents would not appreciate. As with a lot of autstic children Rudi does not like change much. He appreciates some kind of notice before any changes are made however small. I bought the latest innovative piece of technology the ipad, to help Rudi manage his daily schedule independently and to help improve his reading and writing skills. Every now and again the apps need to be updated to load new software and information. On one of the apps Rudi found he wasn't able to go further. i told him the ipad needed to be updated. I waited till the evening and connected it to the laptop and it went through it's procedures. When it had finished going through it's processes, I switched on the ipad and with a slight feeling of dread saw that most of the apps had disappeared and some replaced with new ones. I thought ' Oh Lord ' imagining the scene when he would realise his favourites were gone. But it was a momentary panic as I realised the apps were still on the laptop and I just needed to transfer them back. On getting up in the morning and after getting himslef ready for school Rudi picked up the ipad. 'oh no' he said 'what's happened?'. The apps had been re-arranged. 'It's alright' I said, 'I updated it and your apps are all there just moved'. He flicked through it just to make sure. Then sat and re-arranged them all again. I peered over Rudi's shoulder and said 'there you go, all fixed' at which he turned to me and with a serious look on his face very sternly said, 'I put it back now don't move it around again' echoes of my own voice coming back to me. Such a minor thing most people wouldn't worry about. It's the same when we go in shops, Rudi will be scanning the shelves and putting out of place items back where they should be. I can imagine him working in a shop and watching shoppers making sure they put things back properly and being annoyed with them. All signs of a growing young man who makes me burst with pride when I remember how far he has come from the little boy who found it impossible to sit still for longer than 2 minutes and the only noise out of his mouth was ear-pirecingly high pitched screeching.
Theresa 11-01-2012
Hi I've managed to persuade Cameron to play for the Parentsactive rounders team on Wednesday 2nd at Ravenscourt Park - at least we may have youth o our side!
Comments
Well 15 years have passed and as Rudi approaches his 16th birthday this year and at such a crucial time with a lot of changes afoot, you can imagine it's a pretty daunting thought. He will very soon be going out into the world as an adult with autism trying to navigate the complexities of life. He is already realising that certain things he has been able to get away with as a child up to now will no longer be tolerated. At almost 5'10" and still growing he still has the baby face of a boy much younger. Recently he said to me 'I don't want to be grown up'. This comes as he is now aware that his craving for physical contact, tickling or stroking his arms is not althogether appropriate for his age, especially when we are out in public. The world of autism and familiarity being a comfort can be at odds with the wider society. Many of us parents may also feel an awful wrench as for some of our children touch is something that we use as a communication tool. It can also be a comfort for us as well as our children, as it can often be the only form of emotion between us. Touch helps us make a connection with our children, especially if we have child who has little or no speech. Although complex and we have a lot of ups and downs our children though do provide us with moments of hilarity thatt most parents would not appreciate. As with a lot of autstic children Rudi does not like change much. He appreciates some kind of notice before any changes are made however small. I bought the latest innovative piece of technology the ipad, to help Rudi manage his daily schedule independently and to help improve his reading and writing skills. Every now and again the apps need to be updated to load new software and information. On one of the apps Rudi found he wasn't able to go further. i told him the ipad needed to be updated. I waited till the evening and connected it to the laptop and it went through it's procedures. When it had finished going through it's processes, I switched on the ipad and with a slight feeling of dread saw that most of the apps had disappeared and some replaced with new ones. I thought ' Oh Lord ' imagining the scene when he would realise his favourites were gone. But it was a momentary panic as I realised the apps were still on the laptop and I just needed to transfer them back. On getting up in the morning and after getting himslef ready for school Rudi picked up the ipad. 'oh no' he said 'what's happened?'. The apps had been re-arranged. 'It's alright' I said, 'I updated it and your apps are all there just moved'. He flicked through it just to make sure. Then sat and re-arranged them all again. I peered over Rudi's shoulder and said 'there you go, all fixed' at which he turned to me and with a serious look on his face very sternly said, 'I put it back now don't move it around again' echoes of my own voice coming back to me. Such a minor thing most people wouldn't worry about. It's the same when we go in shops, Rudi will be scanning the shelves and putting out of place items back where they should be. I can imagine him working in a shop and watching shoppers making sure they put things back properly and being annoyed with them. All signs of a growing young man who makes me burst with pride when I remember how far he has come from the little boy who found it impossible to sit still for longer than 2 minutes and the only noise out of his mouth was ear-pirecingly high pitched screeching.
Theresa 11-01-2012
Hi I've managed to persuade Cameron to play for the Parentsactive rounders team on Wednesday 2nd at Ravenscourt Park - at least we may have youth o our side!
Amanda Roles 02-08-2011