Waiting For The Bus

Waiting for my son's bus to return him home from school is a magical part of my day. There was a time when I couldn't have imagined he could be anywhere without us. The effect autism has had on him has been so profound that the thought of leaving him in the care of others seemed impossible once he reached a certain size. At seven years of age his height and weight are in the upper 90 percentile. 4'4" and 106 pounds "of nothing but twisted steel" as I like to say. He goes to wonderful school where he is well cared for and they love him as a person.

My son does not speak. He makes a lot of noise but his only consistent "word" is BOO! or more frequently "Ah-Boo". ( His Aunt Christina and I have also used the variation "RAWR-Boo!" many times on Twitter as a greeting.) He is for the most part a happy little boy who communicates by dragging people where he wants to go and to things he wants to do. He does not fear new settings and situations as many people afflicted with autism do. He doesn't register the difference being one place to the next so his behavior is only effected by how he feels on a particular day. So he can be a human tornado in any setting though he's certainly easier to corral some days more than others. People look at us funny or give us wide berths at times but that doesn't really bother me anymore. I never really cared much what people thought anyway.

He flaps and hops a lot regardless of his moods. The downstairs apartment must love us since he has a jackhammer like hopping technique designed for maximum impact.

I'll talk a lot about my son and my beautiful and brilliant wife on this blog, among other happy things. ( Some silly, some not but I will try to maintain a more positive attitude.) Named after my best friend, my son's name is David and he is my whole world.

Daddy Love You All !