As we all know tweens and teens have selective hearing which drives
us parents crazy. But then there are times we find our kids are
listening when we think they are tuning us out. Here is a story about
Mike & I finding out that Donald not only listens to what we say, he
believes in what we say.
If you have seen my car in town, I am
sure you have heard the 50's music blaring from it. My boys love the old
songs and we have a blast singing them loudly. Sorry if we are not in
tune but it is about us having fun:) While singing the other day Donald
asked "what does it means when they say - 'why do bird sing so gay'?"
So I explained that in the time the songs were written 'gay' meant
happy. Seeing this as a teaching moment I asked him if he knew what
'gay' meant nowadays. He said "yes when a girl loves a girl or a boy
loves a boy." Then we went on to discuss how he felt about it and I
found that he wants everyone to be accepted for who they are and he
feels people have the right to love who they want to love. I was blown
away with pride in Donald, I had no idea he was so knowledgeable about
the topic. Not because we hide it from him but because when raising a
child with Autism we handle things based on what they can handle. We
talk about things but not always covering the whole topic as we believe
in letting our children lead the way for what they are ready to know.
For example - After the School had 'The Talk' with the 5th graders,
Donald came home and was upset because he was not ready for what they
covered. If we had known what was to be covered we would have given him
the option of staying home that day.
Fast forward to yesterday,
Donald had an annual checkup with his Doctor. We were talking about
Donald's Doctor about things he does and does not do, like selective
hearing and his laziness. She felt this was a great segway to talking
about changes his body will go through. During this talk Donald brought
up our discussion we had the week before. When I mentioned how proud I
was, Donald replied with - "I hear how you & Dad talk about these
things and support people and I agree. People should be allowed to love
who they want, Mom you taught me that. I listen to your talks about
things on facebook and in the news."
This is a great example of
how a parents views on topics affect our kids. As for me I was brought
up in a family that was very prejudice against many things in life. I
saw how unhappy being so judgmental made them, especially how they
judged everything about me. So I grew up the complete opposite of my
family:):) I have found that life is so much better when you accept
others for who they are as a person. Does this mean I like everyone, no
there are many people I do not trust but I do not judge based on life
choices. I judge by negatives actions of the person or the negative aura
a person gives off. Yes you read it right "aura" I can feel a persons
aura and know when they are true to heart and when they are dishonest:(
This can be a blessing and a curse as I do not have control of it and
sadly there are many dishonest people in this world and many who say one
thing but their aura says another:( I do not even have to meet them in
person too know, I can feel their aura through their words online or
speeches on TV. (I have to say Mitt is not an honest person)
Many
of you know I am always advocating for Autism Acceptance and I am very
happy that my boys are taking these lessons to others in life!!!!!
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