WELCOME TO JIM'S AUTISM BLOG





Hi everyone and thanks for visiting our blog. My wife and I created this blog to chronicle our experience while raising a son with Asperger's syndrome. Since our son was diagnosed with an ASD at age 5, we've had a lot of questions. Lucky for us we have a great support network in place. And our blog gives us an opportunity to share what we've learned with our readers. We hope you find our blog informative and interesting. Thanks again for visiting.


"It seems that for success in science and art, a dash of autism is essential." Dr Hans Asperger 1906-1980



Friday 14 September 2012

ASPERGER'S, WITH SOME UNDERSTANDING

Balloon free imageJacob has completed another successful week at school, which is great considering it's only the end of week 2.  Jacob's also been very productive in class and has been willing to do his homework every day without too much fuss.  This week Jacob has earned 6 out of 10 stickers for his reward calendar.

The greatest thing that occurred this week was while I was at work and Shannie was taking Jacob back to school.  Last week Jacob saw a lady in a wheel chair with a service dog.  Since Jacob loves dogs, he approached the lady and politely asked if he could pet the dog.  The lady said that because the dog was working, Jacob was unable to pet the dog.

Well, needless to say, this infuriated Jacob.  Usually when he's polite and uses his manners he often gets what he wants.  So when this time his request was declined, he was distraught and confused about what happened.  We explained that some dogs are special and when they're working they shouldn't become distracted.  Then Jacob asked how we know the dog is working?  We told him that when a dog is wearing a special harness, he's working and he has to stay focused.

Then today, Jacob again saw the lady with the dog.  But this time the dog wasn't wearing it's harness and Jacob spotted it right away.  He went over to the lady and said "I know that last time I asked to pet your dog, you said no because he was working.  But now I see that he isn't wearing his special harness, so is it okay if I pet him?"  And the lady said that it was okay.

I was shocked when Shannie told me what Jacob said, so I can only imagine her surprise when he spoke to the lady.  We're so pleased that Jacob is actually beginning to apply what he learns in real life situations.  And he's learning how to act socially more and more every day.  It gives us hope that one day he'll get a grasp on what it means to be a student, and then he'll hopefully become even more successful in class.  We'd really like for Jacob to go to college when he's older, and this makes it seem more likely.

We know Jacob is only 8 years old, so we enjoy the little things as often as possible.  But we accept that he has autism and we understand that things are different for him.  We just want him to be happy in life, which is why we enjoy these small victories, because it makes us feel like our hard work is paying off.
One of my all time favourite pics.

2 comments:

  1. That's so great that he went to the lady with the dog not once, but twice! I am pretty sure my son would have NEVER done that at that age. I don't see any reason why he couldn't go to college if that's what he wants to do. My son made terrible grades all through school, didn't turn in work etc. The day of graduation was surreal. I asked him several times "Are you sure you are graduating?' Even though I wasn't told otherwise and he said he was on the list and I had paid all the fees. Now he's in college and doing better than he ever did in high school. It wasn't easy getting to that point. Hang in there and keep doing what you're doing.

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  2. Thanks for the support Kristy. Hearing that your son went to college gives us hope that Jacob will too. He enjoys certain parts of school now (like recess and lunch) but hopefully, he'll enjoy it more as he gets older. Then it's only my fear of him being on his own to worry about.

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