Guess What? Monster has autism.

I admit, I couldn't think of a good title.

There are some characteristics that are associated with autism spectrum disorders.

1. Lack of social awareness
2. Difficulty communicating
3. Requiring rigid routines
4. Concrete thinking

Yeah, there are more, but those are the ones I think of as fairly common across the spectrum.

Monster was unofficially diagnoses with autism when he was 4 months passed his 2nd birthday. He got the official diagnosis when he was 3 and his diagnosis was confirmed when he was about 3 1/2. However, because he lacked the ability to communicate effectively with us, it was always hard to determine how he viewed the world. In the past few years, his language has improved so much. Even more, he has gotten better and better about expressing his emotions. A few weeks ago, he asked me for a magic wand. since he watches a lot of Disney movies, I'm sure he has a good idea what a magic wand is. Anyway, I got a stick off the ground and gave it to him and he proceeded to wave it around for a while (it really was cute to watch).

Last night, I picked up a stick and told him "look, a magic wand". I had pointed it at him and started signing "bippity boppity boop", but he got very scared and wanted me to point the wand somewhere else. I'm sure he thought the wand really was magic and I was going to turn him into something. I then had a discussion about him regarding pretend vs. real, of which I'm not sure how much he understood since he kept giving my stick a wary look.

So another check off of the list-Monster is a concrete thinker, though coupled with a rich and amazing imagination.

So, yup, Monster has autism ;)