Jake, 12 years old

by Mali
(San Antonio, TX)

We have always taken great pains to model and discuss different behaviors in different social situations with our son Jake. For the most part, he has always either completely ignored us and did whatever he wanted to do, or he decided it would be best to shut down for the duration so he wouldn't have to worry about it.


We recently attended a retirement dinner for a co-worker of mine, a woman who always gave Jake a great audience for his survivorman lectures whenever he would come into the office with me. She was always so impressed that he knew so much about the outdoors and asked how often we went camping, to which I had to reply, almost never.

At the retirement dinner, Jake had a classic Aspie moment when the speeches began and everyone stopped what they were doing to pay attention and he just kept eating his dinner. What can I say, he was hungry, uninterested and being quiet. But afterwards, he told me he wanted to go say hi to the woman who was retiring. I told him that was fine, but he hesitated. When I asked him what was wrong, he said, "Well, I don't know what to say...it doesn't seem right to just say hi and walk away." Sing hallelujah. I worked hard to compose myself and not make it a big deal and told him if he wanted to say something else, it would be just fine to go up to her and tell her he just wanted to come over to say hi and congratulate her on her retirement, and the rest would take care of itself. He left and didn't come back for 15 minutes, during which time I watched him have a great conversation. I waited until I got home to cry.

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Oct 10, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		I'm crying with you...
by: Diane

Thank you so much Mali!

I can completely understand how you felt when he did that (went to her and spoke with her as long as he did). The pride you feel in him (the same pride I feel in my son when he does something that he hadn't been able to do before) just about bursts your heart with such wonderful feelings.

I teared up, still am, as I read what you wrote.

Congratulations, you are doing a wonderful job as is Jake!

And I love the Survivorman part. :) That co-worker who retired is wonderful for giving him the time to tell her about it.

And what an excellent thing for him to know all about. If heaven forbid he were to end up in the wilderness on his own he'd know exactly what to do to survive until he was found. That is an outstanding skill for him to have. :)

Have you thought about writing to the guy who is the Survivorman (Facebook or Twitter or whatever) to let him know about your son? Imagine your son's wonderment if the guy were to contact him in one way or another. :)

Right now I'm the only one that my son can "carry on" with his information about his obsession which currently happens to be Runescape.

According to him he's ranked in the top 100 all over the world and I have to say I don't doubt it because he knows EVERYTHING about it and tells me about it ALL the time). ;)

I wish he had someone he could talk to besides just me. He's so proud of his accomplishment but I'm the only one he gets to tell.

He did manage to extend our interviews with the DVR (Department of Vocational Rehabilitation) and SA (Service Alternatives who works with the DVR) by telling them all about Runescape.

It's funny, you can see in their eyes (come on kid, we need to get moving on this) but of course Cameron doesn't see that and they smile and nod and it's wonderful that they let him carry on, especially since I'm the only one he usually gets to talk to about it. :)

Again congratulations Mali and thank you SO much for sharing! You definitely touched my heart. :)

Please always feel free to come here and post your stories.

I've got a section for:

Asperger's Syndrome cute stories (they're fun to read)

the Asperger's success stories that you posted through here

and now a section about melt-downs that asks parents and caregivers what others can do to help (even if it's just smile encouragingly and move on).

Again please do come back and tell us more. I'm sure you have more than one memory from your son that evokes a smile and/or laughter every time you think about it. :)

And please be sure to tell your friends and family about your new webpage here so that they can come and comment and tell their own stories. :)

Diane

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