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Before I was educated in the traits of autism, I would get frustrated at my son.  He couldn't do what I thought were simple tasks.  I thought he was just being defiant.  One psychologist actually mentioned to me that he could be ODD (oppositional defiant disorder).  It turns out he's just autistic and has motor planning issues.  We intuitively learn the steps to do something simple such as getting ready to go someplace.  You put shoes on, then leave.  For him, Brother would not know where to begin.  So, I always break things down into smaller tasks.  It's not always easy.  Sometimes I feel I've broken down a task into small enough chunks but then he'll tell me after a bit of frustration that he doesn't know how.  So, I need to get even smaller. 

ABA therapy breaks things down into small pieces and then combine to make a bigger picture.  Our OT does a wonderful job in helping Brother learn to organize himself for tasks. 

A conversation could go something like this:

Brother:  Is antidisestablishmentarianism the longest word?

Me:  I don't know.

Brother:  Do you know the longest word?

Me:  No, I don't.

Brother:  Do you think it's anitdisestablishmentarianism?

Me:  I'm not sure.

Brother:  What do you think it is?

Me:  I.  Don't.  Know.

My son loves facts.  He will focus on one subject for long periods of time and learn all he wants to about that subject.  He's gone through birds, dinosaurs, and 9/11.  His obssession with 9/11 is the most recent.  He has tried to wrap his brain around the whole tragedy but has a lot of trouble with the empathy part.  It always brings to the forefront some of his difficulties.  I'll cover empathy another day though.  One of the things that has amazed me is his ability to remember these facts.  He doesn't memorize all the facts, but there are some things that grab him more than others.  For a long time during his dinosaur phase (which comes and goes often), he would request that I read him the name of a dinosaur and how long that dinosaur was.  The benefit is that I can pronounce almost any dinsaur name out there. 

The thing that awes me is that he really remembers this stuff without even trying.  We were at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History a few years ago.  He identified a whole bunch of birds when we walked past the bird exhibit.  I had been reading those same books with him but could barely recognize any of them. 

I also use him as my calendar.  Once you tell him your birthday, he remembers it.  It's quite handy.

We are blessed with a great insurance plan that pays for all of our services.  The local school district refuses to provide services of any kind to homeschoolers (never mind that I pay property taxes).  We have three different types of therapies each week.  We used to have one, but he was discharged from physical therapy more than a year ago.

Our speech therapist, Kris, is wonderful.  We see her twice a week for a half hour session.  She has done so much to teach Brother how to communicate.  She was instrumental in starting a social skills group for him.  Unfortunately, everyone in that group except for Brother has either left therapy or left the area.  Through Kris, Brother has learned all about idioms and multiple meanings.  His brain is like a computer.  When he hear an idiom, he'll search through his files and bring out the meaning.  It doesn't come naturally, but he is starting to understand a bit about the nuances of language.

In occupational therapy, his therapist, Liz, has been teaching about motor planning, keeping his engine (sensory system) at an even keel, and other life skills.  Right now, Liz is on maternity leave and won't be back until June.  We have another therapist who is great with Brother, but I know Brother misses Liz terribly.  OT is twice a week with one hour sessions.

Our newest therapy is ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy.  ABA takes a task and breaks it down into the smallest component possible and with repetition teaches that task to the autistic child.  ABA therapists use a reward to help motivate the kids.  Our therapist, Angela, has been instrumental in teaching Brother a lot of the social skills rules.  He did so well when we were in Massachusetts last year and he was meeting a whole slew of people he hadn't met or seen in a while.  He continues to make steady improvement.  Angela is due to have a baby soon and we'll be off from ABA until June.  We see Angela once a week for an hour.

I've always had a difficult time describing the therapies that Brother does.  OT is always the hardest.  The girls have learned to do well in the waiting room of the clinic.  They bring toys and books to keep occupied during the time we're there.  They've even made some friends.