Sunday, January 02, 2005
Running away, following along
We went up to my in-law's vacation home in today to celebrate New Year's day. My mother-in-law and I went out for a walk with Timothy. Currently Timothy is obsessed with dropping rocks. He grabs handfuls of rocks and slowly dribbles them out of his hand onto the ground. Timothy kept wandering off into people's driveways and yards to find rocks. I'd have to go and fetch him. Sometimes I'd take him by the hand and lead him back to the sidewalk. Sometimes I'd just turn him in the right direction and pat him on the back to get him started.
A couple of times I told him to go follow Grandma. And he did. This was a surprise to both of us. Over the last year, Timothy has shown an increasing awareness of and interest in other people. Two years ago I don't believe he would have followed her.
As I thought about it I remembered instances with Jason. As a toddler and pre-schooler I used to take Jason on walks in the neighborhood after dinner. I had to be very vigilant to keep him from bolting away. Often, I had a lot of trouble getting to come home.
My therapist at the time kept telling me that if I would just start walking home, he'd follow me. I tried this on multiple occasions, and it rarely worked. Usually he would just ignore the fact that I was leaving. Sometimes he would run off in the opposite direction, leaving me to sprint back towards the playground in order to catch him before he reached the street.
During one of my parent's visits we went with them to the Seattle Aquarium. In the car on the way home from the aquarium, my mother commented about how frightening it was to take Jason into a public place. "When he runs off, he doesn't look back!"
That was before Jason had been diagnosed. In fact, before we realized that there were major issues with Jason's behavior. Since he was our first children, we didn't realize that his behavior was atypical.
Now I can see it as a typical behavior for a child with autism. People just aren't that interesting for children with autism. They are more likely to be drawn to things, and if the people around them don't follow along, that doesn't really matter.
It was really nice to see that today, at least some of the time, Timothy found going with Grandma to be more interesting than finding more rocks.
A couple of times I told him to go follow Grandma. And he did. This was a surprise to both of us. Over the last year, Timothy has shown an increasing awareness of and interest in other people. Two years ago I don't believe he would have followed her.
As I thought about it I remembered instances with Jason. As a toddler and pre-schooler I used to take Jason on walks in the neighborhood after dinner. I had to be very vigilant to keep him from bolting away. Often, I had a lot of trouble getting to come home.
My therapist at the time kept telling me that if I would just start walking home, he'd follow me. I tried this on multiple occasions, and it rarely worked. Usually he would just ignore the fact that I was leaving. Sometimes he would run off in the opposite direction, leaving me to sprint back towards the playground in order to catch him before he reached the street.
During one of my parent's visits we went with them to the Seattle Aquarium. In the car on the way home from the aquarium, my mother commented about how frightening it was to take Jason into a public place. "When he runs off, he doesn't look back!"
That was before Jason had been diagnosed. In fact, before we realized that there were major issues with Jason's behavior. Since he was our first children, we didn't realize that his behavior was atypical.
Now I can see it as a typical behavior for a child with autism. People just aren't that interesting for children with autism. They are more likely to be drawn to things, and if the people around them don't follow along, that doesn't really matter.
It was really nice to see that today, at least some of the time, Timothy found going with Grandma to be more interesting than finding more rocks.
