Comments on: Just because he’s laughing….

By: Madmother

Madmother — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:55:16 +0000

I am guilty of looking at him through my NT eyes. Yesterday I was reminded of how very differently we think. A friend had kindly offered to have both boys for a few hours so I could go to work without them. My oldest is friends with this child. He had a great time, but all hell broke loose late yesterday when the bulb in our rear projection TV blew. This one thing threw him totally. It became his “worst nightmare” and “day of hell” all because it was not “what he expected”. He had focused on coming home and letting all the little “acting normal” stresses flow away by watching TV or playing the PS2. Never mind that we have 3 other TV’s – this one was the one he was fixated with. He cried tears of frustration, sadness and being overwhelmed by this confusing world. My beautiful, brave, fragile son.

By: Jill Walton

Jill Walton — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:02:46 +0000

Devon internalizes his stress, and until he started using assisted communication device we didn’t know what he really was thinking. Now, we do, and he can express his feelings to us. He was always regarded as a model child, and a very contented person by his caregivers until he started to tell us what he felt like in certain circumstances, especially during stressful situations.

By: Estee

Estee — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:08:46 +0000

Definitely agree! Maybe context is important too.

I know Adam is a happy little guy, most of the time. He is, after all, the reason I coined the original blog The Joy of Autism. Understandably, with circumstances and context, I have been concerned about a number of things.

I am feeling we are able, though, to sort things out. First there is that “crisis” mode/feeling. Then things start to settle and when one can think, one can make a plan of action.

By: VAB

VAB — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:44:55 +0000

Life is a rich an complex thing. It includes stress and suffering of various kinds. It also includes happiness. Often those two things sit very close to each other. Look at pictures of people in times of war (not press photos only, but people’s private photos). Oddly, you see a lot of happiness.

As you point out, just because someone appears happy, does not mean that everything is rosy. I think we can go on to say that, just because things are not rosy on all fronts, does not mean we cannot be happy.