I am not sure were to begin this blog. In some ways this situation just began and in other ways it has been in the works for years. And I decided to share our story in the hopes of giving other people a glimpse into our life, and bringing hope to other families touched by Autism and Aspergers. In some ways it feels very strange to be writing this because my son has still not been officially diagnosed. All we know for sure is that he is developmentally delayed in social, adaptive, and fine motor skills. They have not "officially" attached a name to it yet, and yet I feel very confident in saying my son has Aspergers. It sounds like such a scary thing, Aspergers a Autism Spectrum Disorder. But in the Bocook house we see it a bit differently than most people. It isn't an label, it isn't a disability, it isn't a scary big bad word. It is one of the many things that makes my son amazing. It has as many perks as drawbacks. He is gifted and sees the world through a truly amazing perspective. He sees the world from outside the box, has a true love of learning, and an almost photographic memory. His world is organized chaos, full of amazing patterns and structure. We may not understand the rules but if we take the time to ask, there is a method to his madness. He loves dictionary definitions, trains, and is starting to take to spelling to and math. He is amazing if people just take the time to see it.
He is not without his issues. He can be VERY literal. I really have to watch what I say around him. We recently were learning the planets, because he is fascinated with space. And I was explaining Uranus. And as he was repeating them back to me he said and that blue planet is "My Anus" planet. It has now been almost six months and I think we have him convinced that is is Uranus, not My Anus. At 4 years old I will admit that it was hilarious and a but adorable. But these misunderstanding happen on an almost daily basis and I can see problems in the future if we don't work on these things. Another issue is he can be very rigid which makes making friends a bit tough. When he plays trains he has ONE order in which it is acceptable to play trains, for instance Hank (from Thomas) and then 3 grey freight cars, 2 green, 1 blue then a caboose. There is no other order, so when another 4 year old wants to play World War 3 ensues. He struggles with potty training, transitions, routine change ups, and the list goes on and on. BUT, and that is a BIG but, all of that seems to fade away when you sit down and take the time to see Logan for Logan. For the most part we have been extremely blessed to be surrounded by loving wonderful people who are supportive and understanding. To the rest of the people who we have encountered, they get the standard answer of, "We Are Working on That." Now if you have received that response from me it doesn't mean you automatically fall into the second category. It means that sometimes I don't want to go into why he is doing what he is doing. I am new to all this too, and when he is doing something out of the ordinary like melting down because the trains are out of order, playing with the shopping cart wheels, or making strange sounds when he gets stressed out we can't explain it any better that you can.
I feel like it is my job as his parent to help him develop his talents and strengthen his weakness. That is going to happen regardless of whether not he has Aspergers. He has his evaluation appointment this next week and I thankful we can move on from the "Winging it" stage. Although we have made huge strides, now we will have the resources to help him achieve his true potential. I am thankful to have an amazing husband who is truly on board through this process. In our house we celebrate the small stuff, whether it be a good day at school, a poop in the potty, eye contact or an unsolicited "I Love You." Some say Autism is a lifetime diagnosis but that doesn't mean it has to be a life sentence. Please feel free to comment and tell me a bit about your stories or connection with Autism. I will be continuing this blog to document our Aspergers Adventure.
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