Hello all, here is another insight in the world of JP and his Autism. It all began with a quote I read from Temple Grandin and it went a little like this:
“The word used after an autistic diagnosis used to be Gifted not Disabled” (Apologies about my terrible misquote but I cant find where I saw it last!)
This quote got me thinking that the language we use to describe people and conditions has a massive and direct effect on the perception of those children and conditions. Now I know that this is down to the fact that Autism is a spectrum disorder and there are 2 very extreme ends to it but I cant help but think that every single child has a gift and a talent that we just need to learn to access and unlock.
For example I truly believe that JP is going to grow up and be a fantastic musician, he already holds full sized guitars correctly and strums them (instantly more talented than I am), has impeccable timing and can pick out an instrument from a full song and then tell you what he is hearing. However, putting that aside I would like to tell you about another skill JP has developed and honed over the last few weeks.
JP can be highly motivated by certain things, generally music and food, to be a little more precise with the food side he simply can’t go past a Pizza Express restaurant without signing food frantically and having a meltdown when he realises we can’t eat every single meal in there. Where we live there is a Pizza Express about a quarter of a mile away and one day a few weeks back JP and I were out walking as he often likes to do and I had decided to let him lead the way and explore where he wanted to, obviously keeping an eye on the safety of said explorations. To cut a long journey short, via a few gardens, the local football stadium and the corner shop JP eventually led me to Pizza Express a quarter of a mile away. This wasn’t a fluke either, he had been doing his special food sign for Pizza Express the whole time we had been walking (it is a lot more delicate and upmarket than other food signs) and the few times he asked me to carry him I told him if I was carrying him I would take him home and for the first time ever he refused the lift and carried on walking, just proving that he can do a lot more than he lets on when motivated. His navigational skills were confirmed today when we visited our local park, which is in the opposite direction to Pizza Express, on the way home we came to the fork in the road and he pointed to the left and again signed for Pizza Express.
I’m not sure how many other 3 year olds could navigate their way around a town centre, even if his focal point is always food related!!! It is because of this I am proposing a new word to be considered by the Oxford English Dictionary: how about our children are no longer disabled but rather DIFABLED – differently abled to neurotypical children. They all have something to offer if we just have patience and understanding to unlock it.
jollypigandme 