People look at Aspie teen and judge him by
A) his age
and
B) his height.
Aspie teen is tall for age so he's immediately judged to be older than he actually is.
Strike one.
He can hold mature, serious conversations with others.
Strike two.
He's able to hold himself together, with manners, in formal situations (98% of the time).
Strike three.
It's difficult to explain to those who have no inkling of ASD how a child might superficially appear to be on par with his/her peers but when it comes to the long haul some can't keep up or cope, no matter how much encouragement they're given, no matter how many therapies they get, no matter how much early intervention they attend.
We have to wait for the child to mature on their own before they're able to take the next step, sometimes.
Which is why so many with ASD have an uneven ability.
Aspie teen was 12 when he began university yet he wasn't mature enough to cope with something more appropriate for his age like drama class until this year.
He started lapidary classes at age 12, learning from experienced geologists and science teachers yet he wasn't able to concentrate on swimming lessons until this year.
He started Russian language school at 12, galloping along and learning the language quickly yet he couldn't cope with dancing lessons until this year.
He'd reached a new level last year but it didn't automatically include the level he's now reached this year.
Next year he may reach another level but we'll leave that up to him to attain ;)
3 comments:
It is so complicated isn't it? My son is 2 and half years old. I can't tell people that he can count to ten, knows his alphabet and can read many many words because how do I explain that he can do this yet he can't talk yet! People will think, woohoo, he is intelligent and not see past that and the difficulties he has to face like not knowing how to join in to play with children etc.
Thanks for this, has given me a little lift and it is nice to be able to tell someone something and know they will understand :)
Jen
That's why we parents of ASD kids tend to move in herds, Jen, makes life easier and less tiring without having to repeat explanations a bajillion times ;)
That's wonderful Ro.
I get really tired of the "he looks/acts/seems "fine" and "in line with he peers" to me.
Frustrating and unhelpful.
I'm glad I'm in your "herd" lol
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