YouTube, chasey and Autism.

Since I can remember, and certainly since Miss M (3.5yrs) can remember, she had needed extended periods of 'down time'.  Quiet time where no one interacts with her, unless it's on her terms.  Usually that means she is watching something on the iPad, or playing a game on it.  Some days, especially after an upheaval in routine, this down time can last for hours and hours, sometimes most of the day.  Early on we chose to let her self regulate 'screen time' and not force a limit on it for her - a contentious issue I know - as we recognised that it seemed to help her cope with things outside her control, even before she was diagnosed as ASD.

Well this weekend we have been out in the caravan for a little change of scenery - something that is always a challenge for Miss M.  Usually when we go away Miss M spends her time doing solo things, likes puzzles, playing with toys, making 'collections' of randoms things (shells, leaves, stones etc), drawing with chalk, colouring.  You get the idea.

This holiday Miss M did her best to interact with the other kids there.  We talked about how to introduce ourselves.  Miss M has always liked to say her full name - because that's her name! We had a discussion about how just her first name would be enough because otherwise it is a lot of names for the other kids to remember.  And Miss M agreed that we only really call each other by our first names anyway.

So today I had one of those 'ah' moments.  The kind of moment you have, as a parent, where you swell with pride and think, especially as a mum of an ASD kid, that they're going to be ok, they're starting to figure it out.  Even more so, that the things you say, as a parent, really do, eventually, sink in!

My little aspie walked right up to the other kids and introduced herself, and then asked the other kids what their names were.  She had taken her dummy out to do this (we frequently tell her to take it out when she talks so other people can understand her).  A couple of the older boys there (maybe 7 or 8 years old) started a teasing rant "dummy baby dummy baby, why do you have a dummy, baby!".  Miss M looked at them matter of factly (without really understanding they were not being nice) and said "um, well, we have dummies for sucking on sometimes, and because I like them.". Of course/thankfully the boys backed down and went about their own games.

Then I watched Miss M play a game of hide and seek and then chasey with the other girls.  Yes she got completely over excited and took a bit of effort and planning to calm down before dinner, but I was amazed that she knew how to play these games.  We have never talked about them, and we have only really played chasey once for a very short time.  And I know she didn't just figure them out. I feel I have YouTube to thank.  YouTube taught Miss M how to brush her teeth, and now it's taught her how to play with other kids, and apparently to count to 10!

Well kudos to you my independent learner.  You amaze me every single day.  💗