Yesterday afternoon, while our family walked Miss Daisy, Jack, our 8-year-old, was making the most annoying train and pokemon noises. He does this pretty much all the time (it's a behavior of autism to make repetitive noises), and while George and I are mostly good at tuning out these these meaningless sounds, sometimes it just gets to be too much, even outside. Such was the case yesterday, when George and I both told him to stop. His reply:
"I can't help it. It's just who I am!"
We know, honey. We know.
From another kid, this might seem like an excuse or back-talk, but not from Jack. In his case, he's pretty much stating a fact.
I would dearly love to know what movie he got this from (another symptom of autism is using movie lines, often quite appropriate to the situation, rather than spontaneous speech to communicate). Suspects include How to Train Your Dragon, which is a totally wonderful Dreamworks movie. We haven't had that one long enough for me to have it memorized myself.
Whatever the source, Jack's growing self-awareness and ability to communicate it are delightful!
We just got that movie here, and I love it. I want a Nightfury dragon of my own.
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty fantastic that Jack knows and understands and can tell you these things about himself.