12 Things I Let My Son Do…
10 12 Things I let my son do that parents of typical 7 year-olds would never allow (Inspired by Autism Daddy):
1) Suck his thumb. Kids on the spectrum find ways to soothe themselves and filter out uncomfortable stimulation. This is one of Eric’s coping mechanisms.
2) Jump on the furniture. Eric is extremely sensory. He craves movement and sensory input like a thirst. We have a trapeze and a trampoline in our living room.
3) Wear his light spring jacket in the winter. Eric has issues with big, bulky clothing. Sometimes we have to pick our battles to avoid a day-ruining melt down.
4) Use the infant swing at the park. Like I mentioned, Eric craves movement. The swings relax him. It is easier and more relaxing for him to use the infant swing because he doesn’t have to stabilize his body.
5) Watch Sesame Street, Care Bears, Wiggles and other “baby” shows. The kid just loves them. His happiness is all that matters to me.
6) Watch Barbie, Strawberry Shortcake, Holly Hobbie and other “girl” shows. See number 5.
7) Carry his favorite stuffed toys everywhere. He calls them his “guys”. They include Count, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch. We don’t leave home without them. Ever.
8) Carry his cloth diaper everywhere. (Think Linus and his blankie). It’s another one of his “guys.” It is old and tattered and it’s his best friend.
9) Eat bacon, pork roll, pepperoni and bologna… a lot… like every meal. Eric is a very picky eater. We have to pick our battles just to get a decent amount of calories in his little body.
10) Run around in his underwear. The first thing he does when he comes home or goes to grandma’s house is strip down to his underwear. I don’t know. You figure it out.
I can totally understand the no clothes bit… I'm 20 and to this day when I get home the first thing I do is strip down to underwear of choice (normally baggy boy boxers) and find a softer t-shirt, if not a sports bra that's not going to bother me. Things on my arms for too long ends up making them feel as if they're being rubbed with sandpaper. Jeans are too restrictive and sometimes pajama pants are too.
I let my spd/asd six and a half year old do many of these things. Especially the sucking of the thumb. So many people have told me to break him of it. but they dont get it that its the ONE only appropriate self calming behavior he has.
Love the post. 🙂 I can so relate to it all too. 🙂 Especially 1, 5, and 6. I get so much grief over those things it's unreal.
My oldest uses his pacifier still and if for some reasons we can't find it or it's not available quickly enough when he's getting overwhelmed or scared he'll start shoving his fingers in his mouth and will try sucking on them until he chokes himself so we always try to have plenty of spares. I am told constantly that I should take it away and make him quit, but it's all he really has to help him calm down or stay calm (in high anxiety situations) so I just can't take that away from him.
As far as the "baby" and "girl" shows/movies, BOTH of my boys watch them. I don't see what the big deal is with it to be honest. They also watch more typical "boys" shows/movies but they tend to prefer a lot of the neutral and/or baby or girl movies because they tend to be happier, calmer (not near as much violence or high action scenes which overwhelm and frighten them), more colorful, and sometimes even more musical (they both have always loved music).
I say the same as you on the whole thing. I just want them to be happy and in this case, there's nothing harmful or dangerous so I just let them do it. 🙂 They love Cinderella, Cars, Toy Story, Dora, Tangled (I skip the scary parts), The Little Mermaid, Barbie movies, CareBears, Beauty and the Beast (skip scary parts), Little Einstiens, Sesame Street (they're both addicted to Elmo 🙂 ), Phineas and Ferb, etc. (you get the idea 😉 )
Thanks for sharing 🙂
–David's mom
LOL! I could have written this post too! There are a few individual differences but I think our boys are pretty similar.
I agree with Marie, My 7 yo son is very similar. I let him do all these things as well. We get comments about jumping on furniture and the diet. My son likes Bacon but Lays potato chips are his favorite. LOL also, our house is lit up like Christmas every night.
Ooh. Thanks for the inspiration. I'm going to write a list like this of my own.
My son calls his stuffed animals his "guys" too 🙂