Leah BensonA Non-Autistic Halloween!
November 9th 2008 07:53
First off, I apologize for not posting anything new for a while. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in life that I find myself procrastinating on everything non-essential. I guess I'm like the nightly news: "if it bleeds, it leads." Now onto other things.
Every year since Max was 5 months old, we have dressed him in some adorable, age-appropriate Halloween costume, only to pull him begrudgingly from house to house. The entire charade served two purposes: first, the participation of a nostalgic childhood ritual and second, costume pictures for his grandparents. So, this year we expected nothing different. But wow we're we wrong! From the first ghost he spied in someone's yard, he literally ate, slept and breathed Halloween. By the time October 31st arrived, he had chosen multple costumes and had filled the house with every imagineable Halloween decoration. We even had a two-foot ghost running across our family room on a zip line so everytime Max clapped or screamed the ghost moved back and forth, making "ghost" noises as it went. Argh!
So, our Halloween was unseasonably warm and Max loved every second of it. We went trick-or-treating with my brother's family, including my niece Izzy who is six. Max would wait impatiently for Izzy to ring each doorbell and then run up just in time for his candy. As the candy was dropped into their bags, Izzy would start her pre-rehearsed speech:
"Hi, my name is Izzy and I'm a fairy princess. This is my cousin Max, he can't talk because he was born with a weird illness called autism, so I'm saying trick-or-treat for him, too!"
There were a lot of firsts this year. At eight-years-old, Max unexpectedly fell in love with everything Halloween. He learned how to use his imagination by pretending he was a ghost. He would put his arms out to his side, say his version of "ooooohhhhh" and chase us around the house. He would even add a sheet, throwing it over his head! He also made the connection that his fake swords are the same as the swords used in his video games and began imitating those scenes. Suddenly all of his toys started making sense to him. He began acting out battles with his pirate legos whereas before he wouldn't even touch them. Things haven't been perfect, but I will always remember October of 2008 as a major milestone for Max.
Every year since Max was 5 months old, we have dressed him in some adorable, age-appropriate Halloween costume, only to pull him begrudgingly from house to house. The entire charade served two purposes: first, the participation of a nostalgic childhood ritual and second, costume pictures for his grandparents. So, this year we expected nothing different. But wow we're we wrong! From the first ghost he spied in someone's yard, he literally ate, slept and breathed Halloween. By the time October 31st arrived, he had chosen multple costumes and had filled the house with every imagineable Halloween decoration. We even had a two-foot ghost running across our family room on a zip line so everytime Max clapped or screamed the ghost moved back and forth, making "ghost" noises as it went. Argh!
Max, Izzy, Kelly and Ivan
"Hi, my name is Izzy and I'm a fairy princess. This is my cousin Max, he can't talk because he was born with a weird illness called autism, so I'm saying trick-or-treat for him, too!"
trick-or-treat
There were a lot of firsts this year. At eight-years-old, Max unexpectedly fell in love with everything Halloween. He learned how to use his imagination by pretending he was a ghost. He would put his arms out to his side, say his version of "ooooohhhhh" and chase us around the house. He would even add a sheet, throwing it over his head! He also made the connection that his fake swords are the same as the swords used in his video games and began imitating those scenes. Suddenly all of his toys started making sense to him. He began acting out battles with his pirate legos whereas before he wouldn't even touch them. Things haven't been perfect, but I will always remember October of 2008 as a major milestone for Max.
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