"You Stink!"

Only moms to other ASD children will be able to understand the joy I felt when Monster, angry with me for making him go to his room because he was refusing to do his homework, came out with an envelope that he said had a message for me. I opened it and it said, “Mom you stink”. And instead of getting angry, lecturing my son about his need to respect me, grounding him, etc, I simply hid my smile and told him, I’m sorry you feel that way. Now let’s get that homework finished.

Parents of NT children wouldn’t get why this is a cause for celebration. My son – the one who less than a year ago would have been screaming, kicking, slamming his head on the floor (and admittedly, he does still occasionally do these things) – is learning to express himself verbally instead of physically. And I couldn’t be more proud. Not that I’m going to tell him it’s okay to tell me I stink or call me names, but I did thank him for using his words before sitting him back in front of his homework.
It’s a happy day. It’s one of those days where you see rays of sunshine through the clouds. And these moments when my son does something I consider pretty amazing always catch me by surprise and add a little joy to my day.