I follow this page on Facebook, and they post wall pictures and stories....it's great! So I log onto Facebook, and see this wall picture that says, "Autism, it's never the same day twice, but don't dare change the routine." I'm not sure who the author is of that quote, whether it is the person who has this page or somewhere else. Right now I will give credit to an unknow author. The picture had a child a young child asleep on the bed with toys and shoes neatly in a curved row. This stood out to me, and I had to laugh!
Remember Ryan's "walking" shoes that I mentioned in a post earlier this week? Well, Ryan has several pair of shoes. He has never been hard on shoes, and all of them still look new. The "walking" shoes being one of the pairs. About three years ago, Ryan went through this phase where he had to have every pair of his shoes out in the living room. I would put them under an end table, and by the time I got home from work he would have them lined up neatly in a line, extending out from the front door and out into the living room. After this went on for several days of back and forth, I gave up. I decided that this was one battle that I did not want to fight at that time.
During this time I was dating a man that Ryan adored. He came over one night to go to dinner with us, and when he walked in he saw the line of shoes. He was always careful not to say things that might upset Ryan. So later when we were alone, he asked me what was up with the shoes. I explained what Ryan had been doing with the shoes, and I finally just gave up. He proceeded to tell me that his youngest son who was living with him at the time would pile his shoes at the door, and after asking him one time to clean them up and he didn't, he told him they were being thrown way. That fixed the problem. He also said that he understood it would not be that easy with Ryan. So I decided to pick this battle up again.
I started with putting them under the end table again. When I came home, I would find those shoes spread out again in the neat little line. So I decided to tell Ryan that I would throw the shoes away if he didn't stop. I explained that the living room was the first thing you see when you walk into the house, and people had to step over his shoes. He argued that in my bedroom I had shoes in a line. Of course I would leave out a couple pair of flip flops and my gym shoes, but you could still walk around my room with no problem. So there was some method to his madness. I told him he was welcome to line his shoes up in his room, and he flatly refused. So out of the blue one day I gathered his shoes up, and put them out in the garage. I guess he thought I had thrown them away, but I didn't. The funny thing was he never asked about those shoes. He spotted the "walking" shoes not too long ago. He referenced those shoes. I told him they were still practically brand new, and asked if we could give them away. I got the firm "NO!" He will not wear them, but he doesn't want anyone else to either. We still have those shoes! lol
So seeing that wall picture on Facebook took me back! It doesn't matter with Autism or Asperger's, what the child's age is, we as parents or caretakers of our special children see the similarities of behavioral patterns. It just fascinates me..... Their whole psyche! To spend just a couple of hours inside their head. Just to see how their mind works. It's a puzzle, a mystery.....something we may never understand. As one of my brothers said to me yesterday, "you have your hands full." Yes I do, but Ryan continually amazes me. I love laughing with him when he is in that mood. I love being silly with him. I love being Ryan's mom!!
Peace!
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