I caught up with them when they stopped for traffic at West Fourth Street, and took her father's hand, to make a threesome. She dropped his hand and spun around to take mine, almost as though some magnetic force dislodged her and reattached her on the other side of the group. Her father let go of my hand, and we were once again in our family unit of 2 + 1: (Sweet M + parent) + other parent.
Our family is fractured. Lots of families are. Lots of autism families are. We are a classic case: parents invested in the child and divested in each other.
As we walked home, Sweet M had something to share.
Guess what guess what guess what, ________!!?!! (Sweet M calls me by my first name.)
What M?
We had a fire drill today!!!
You had a fire drill?
Yes. Yes. And we went on the roof. I saw some sharp things—bird things. Guess — guess what was sharp!!
Wow. I don't know. Bird beaks?
Nooooooooo.
Bird claws?
Noooo! Guess! Guess!
I don't know. I give up.
The pigeon things. For the pigeons. For the pigeon mice.
Pigeon mice? Oh pigeon mites. Oh, you saw pigeon spikes! Wow, that's great.
Yes, they were sharp and pointy. They were everywhere. On top of the door. On the ledge. Everywhere!
Last week seen a news program segment about the problem of pigeons roosting on air conditioners and ledges and then pigeon mites sometimes infest the adjacent space. Pigeon mites are nasty. The segment showed an exterminator fumigating for the mites and installing spikes.
Wow. I thought. She's putting all this information together all the time, but since we almost never have the same visual referents — and she usually doesn't have the language for it — so she doesn't get to share it. (This is where I sidebar to say three cheers for TV. )She's putting it together, and the 1 + 1 feels like 1 + 1 = 3. It's thrilling. We can't even begin to know what she knows — what she's learning and observing all the time.
Now if I could only figure out how to make 1 + 1+ 1 equal 1, or even 3.
Keywords: autism • Asperger's Syndrome • ADHD • learning disabilities • speech-language disorders • parenting • family life
2 comments:
I think the magic--the gain--is in the +. Namely, that M is making connections and finding a language--her language--to say what is on her mind.
1 x 1 x 1 = 1
When Ben was little, we used to give him guff about "t.v. talk", before we realized he learned language in strings by it's example. For years he wouldn't talk so much as repeat a "script" he had heard that might fit in.
He is 12 now, and what goes around comes around. Just the other day I was quoting something I loved from a book and he said, "Book Talk!"
It is still sometimes difficult for him to "find the words" in public, but at home he is very comfortable and very witty. He thinks so outside the box.
Post a Comment