My little guy talks so well now, I sometimes forget that there are words and concepts that are unfamiliar to him. This weekend, we took the kiddos on a road trip. As usual, it was not without a giggle or two.
The drive started out rough. Little guy was in the backseat, directly behind hubby. My son was having a spectacularly bad day and had been pretty miserable for hours before we finally got on the road. His excitement/anxiety/ADHD/autism was in full swing as he proceeded to constantly kick the back of hubby's seat and occasionally sit forward to tap him on the head. After repeatedly being told to stop, and of course the obligatory "I'm going to turn this car around", he was unable to comply.
We finally resorted to logic and explained that distracting the driver (with assorted hits and kicks) was dangerous and it may cause us to have a wreck. We used this tactic for a while to no avail and it eventually became clear to me that the little guy didn't understand what a wreck was. So, I tried to clarify the concept for him.
Me: Honey, a wreck is when a car crashes into something. We could all get hurt really bad if that happened to us.
Little guy: By the police?
Me: No, the police won't hurt us...
Hubby: A wreck is the same thing as an accident...
Little guy: In your pants?
The hubby and I tried very hard to maintain straight faces while expressing the seriousness of the issue. We eventually succeeded and the little guy settled down. We both decided, however, that if we had a wreck...and the police stopped by to beat us up...we probably would have an accident...in our pants.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Big Babies
It's not quite 8:30 am and already my bullshit tolerance for the day has been exceeded. Today's autism news is punctuated with the headline of yet another useless study. Apparently, some group shelled out money to determine that larger babies tend to have a higher risk of autism. Of course, this directly contradicts an earlier study saying that premature infants are more susceptible. (After all, preemies do tend to be on the small side.)
It seems like there is a new "study" every week. Maternal age, diet, and mood have all been scrutinized. They've looked for trends in income and education levels of the parents. And, of course, genetics is always a safe target of research.
Based on the body of 'scientific' research and my own personal experience, it seems that autism can develop in just about any child. But, for today, the news will be that bigger babies are at higher risk.
Babies born to young mothers, babies born to old mothers. Rich babies, poor babies. Big babies, small babies. Black babies, white babies...It goes on and on. Aside from simply being born, there is ONE thing that all of these babies have in common.
But we're not going to research that, are we?
Someday, the CDC and the mainstream media will have to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Today, clearly, is not that day.
It seems like there is a new "study" every week. Maternal age, diet, and mood have all been scrutinized. They've looked for trends in income and education levels of the parents. And, of course, genetics is always a safe target of research.
Based on the body of 'scientific' research and my own personal experience, it seems that autism can develop in just about any child. But, for today, the news will be that bigger babies are at higher risk.
Babies born to young mothers, babies born to old mothers. Rich babies, poor babies. Big babies, small babies. Black babies, white babies...It goes on and on. Aside from simply being born, there is ONE thing that all of these babies have in common.
But we're not going to research that, are we?
Someday, the CDC and the mainstream media will have to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Today, clearly, is not that day.
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