holy mocha soy latte batman

ok sorry...the kiddos are hooked on scooby doo these days...now that they are 3 and 5, i have taken a more laid back approach on "educational only" tv...there's only so much dora one person can handle...i haven't given in to the sponge bob revolution...mainly bc j-bob already finds humor in the disgusting, and i am constantly having to remind him that the school may not find his "pee and poo" humor quite as funny as we do...he happens to be the child of two parents who still laugh if someone passes gas...very pre-adolescent humor...oh well...to each his own...i have found myself relating a story and half way through thinking: dear Lord...i am in my 30's...this isn't supposed to be so funny...hence the half-opened-disbelieving-looks on my friends...well...no my friends are all pretty great about being real...it's when i branch out to other's friends (i am a friend snob...only real friends for me...well...sometimes i can sense someone just needs some real-ness encouragement...it's always great to watch an unreal adult branch out and become real)

okok...totally off on a tangent...gotta study...hence the very few blog entries...BUT...i wanted to leave you all on these thoughts...

this morning i was honored to sit in the middle of j-bob's social skills group. there are four other boys on the spectrum ranging from 5-9 years of age. we were playing a game...the WH-game. they had a picture in front of them and had to answer when, what, why, who, and where questions...truly...my heart melted at the difficulty of this game for some of them. but they didn't get all hung up on the struggles...instead they pushed ahead...kept trying until they got the right answer...and listening to their giggles and supportive "conversations" was great...the fact that five boys with autism were having to be reminded to have quiet mouths and to stop giggling...just like "regular" kids...but the best part was watching them get to pick their prize at the end...you would think that this was the hardest decision they would ever have to make...i love it...

but my most most favorite part was when the other moms were discussing the future sessions with the therapist...instead i got the sweetest young man talking to me about all kinds of things i know nothing about (specific airplanes)...but his spirit...my goodness...it is so incredibly sweet...they all surrounded me and totally invaded my personal space...i loved it...there is something about thinking outside the box...i think the scariest part of autism well...the understood-half-recovered-my-child's-no-longer-in-pain-autism...is the reaction and ignorance of those outside our (other families with autism) world...when i am with my family at home...i rarely see what i don't have...when with playing with other families who has a special needs kiddo...i rarely see what i don't have...it's only when i am faced with the real world...the questions, the assumptions, the inability to speak outside the box...

today...i see more than what i don't have...i see what other people don't have...i see these amazingly brilliant children willing to fight to answer a WH-question...not because they want to impress someone...not because their mommy might be disappointed...but because...well...that's the name of the game...i mean really...isn't that what the rules said to do...HA...the literalness...it's so amazingly refreshing...

talk about real. and that's the part society can't handle...that's the part i never want recovered!