Am I In Autism?
“Mom?”
“Yes Charlie.”
“Am I in autism?”
“Are you… what did you say?”
“Am I in autism Mom? I am ain’t I?”
“Sweetie, don’t say ain’t, say aren’t…. and… well, yes, you do have autism… that’s what they are calling it right now anyway. <<under my breath: I like to call it vaccinosis>>”
“But why Mom? Why am I in autism?”
“Ummm…”
“Was I born in autism?”
“No, you weren’t. You were born healthy, happy and most definitely NOT in autism.”
“But why did I get put in autism?”
“Well, that is complicated… let’s see… first you were given some shots that made you sick… things we didn’t even know about back then… you got really sick in your belly and then started having all kinds of allergies… but we didn’t know it … so we kept giving you the foods you were allergic to… that made you get more and more sick… but then we found a way to help you… your special diet… your medications… and now you are doing much better… you aren’t anywhere near as sick as you were before… and now Dr. Krigsman is fixing your belly… and Dr. Davis is fixing everything else… soon you will not be in autism anymore… you may not be now… just still a little sick… that’s it… but I’m doing everything I can to get you better sweetie.”
“Thank you Mom. I do feel a lot better. No more slime in my brain and monsters in my tummy.”
“That’s right! And you’re doing such a good job… being such a big boy… Mommy is very proud of you for all of your hard work to help us get you better.”
“Thank you Mom. Thank you.”
September 23rd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Oh my… I am sitting here BAWLING…
“Thank you Mom. I do feel a lot better. No more slime in my brain and monsters in my tummy.â€
Out of the mouths of babes…
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Aww man, I was SO bawling when he walked away… “Thank you Mom…” in his sweet little voice. I mean he said all that stuff on his own. He KNOWS he feels better, he remembers not too long ago complaining that slime was attacking his brain and gut.
Yeah, I cried like a damned fool.
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:37 pm
So smart…he is in Autism and Autism has him, He, is not Autism.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Yeah, I caught that too. It’s incredible how Charlie gets what is going on… and the fact that he fights harder than anyone to be “out of autism.”
September 24th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Holy shit….. Wow. You wanna jot that down for us a A of A??
September 24th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Stagmom – EXCELLENT suggestion. Jeanne – I think you should…
Stagmom, a related question. Salamander has shared similar sentiments with me on occassion, but, unlike many others, I can’t explain things to Salamander from the context of “you were fine, then you had shots and you started getting sick.” I cannot nor do I blame vaccinations for what eventually ended up happening to Salamander. Were they a contribution factor? Most likely yes, but I’ll never know for sure. There are so many other factors in play for him.
That being said, is AoA interested in stories that give the perspective of the child as he or she is recovering on how they used to experience things, and how they experience things as they are healing? I have certainly heard Salamander say, not just to me, but to others too: “Oh, I used to do that, when my autism was bad. But now I don’t do that anymore, because my brain is getting better.” Or “so and so in my class still has a lot of autism, just like I did. But I don’t have it that much anymore.”
Just trying to bench mark, that’s all.