He looks so comfy, doesn't he? He's quite happy, in his element, lying on the floor watching SpongeBob SquarePants. He's just too cute (no, I'm not bragging at all!)We were settling in to the early evening/after school & work routine when we discovered that SmallBoy, as is usual, had left his coat on the sofa after returning home from school. He is getting much better at doing small things like cleaning up things that don't require much effort - or time away from whatever he happens to be doing. He hung up his coat as asked, but then I discovered that the house key was still on the couch, waiting to be swallowed up by the cushions. Knowing that drastic measures had to be taken to save the key, I grabbed it and tossed it to SmallBoy and asked him to put it in his backpack. He did, after prompting him a couple of times.
Girl and SmallBoy walk home from school together. He IS 9, and both Girl and LargeBoy walked home by themselves at that age, only a much shorter distance, as we lived closer to the school. I don't let SmallBoy walk home by himself because of many factors. PC pointed out to me the irony in sending the key with SmallBoy. He is MUCH more responsible with it than Girl. SmallBoy will ALWAYS make sure that he has it, whereas, Girl will assume she does and then, more likely than not, end up locked out or praying that someone left something unlocked. I find it very peculiar, though I'm not surprised, that the Asperger's has made SmallBoy much more attentive to that part of his routine...ah, yes....it's part of the routine. Isn't that interesting?
On occasion, LargeBoy has gotten home before them and been locked out because he never takes a key. He relies on the younger siblings to be home before him, which makes sense because he has much farther to walk then they do. He has not learned from this, however - that perhaps he should take a key ANYWAY! Have you noticed any ASD traits that have truly been an advantage to your child?
3 comments:
Well, maybe not an advantage to her, but certainly to me. G. is very compliant about anything we ask her to do. As long as it isn't a 2-3 part objective. She also has an amazing memory for all kinds of things, and usually does phenomenally well at vocab tests. However the key thing would never happen here. She loses everything she gets her hands on. Organization is something we are working on right this very minute. As a matter of fact, I am also working on it!
Your post reminds me of MOM-NOS's most recent one on nurturing strengths. Charlie's tendency to learn routines and stick to them is such a strength, so long as we start him at the beginning of an activity the right way. Today it was carrying the shopping basket for me at the store--he never set it down (esp. after some sushi went into it).
Mstr A likes things to be clean - he cleans the table & sometimes sweeps the floor for me:-)
He also likes things to be in their proper place (although not everything has a poper place!). I'm hoping this will become an ability to keep his bedroom tidy:-)
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