Autism, Smauhtism.

The school that Scott goes to called today and said they want to set up another autism test for him. The test is pretty much the same as last time. "Put the red block on the red square," stuff like that. He does some of it, but mostly loses interest quite quickly.

Basically, he is stubborn. He works on his own time and does what he wants. He listens when we correct him, like "its bedtime" or "go sit down." He listens to that. But everything else is on Scott time. He's always been that way. He was born a month early cause he wanted to be. He ate when he wanted to. He crawled and walked when he wanted to. Now with speech its the same. And he certainly has got better in the last two months. He will never talk when we prompt him except when we say "we're gonna go out." He'll say "GO!" or "bye bye." Stuff like that. But then on its surprise words. like the other day out of nowhere he dropped "Cookie." and then last week he said "Squidward." Just random. He's always imitating speech gestures and patterns from movies or cartoons he has seen. And he rewinds/forwards DVDs to certain parts that he likes. He goes to certain discs that have scenes or menus that he likes. Give him my ipad he can skim songs, go to videos, boot up netflix, select what he wants on it and play it. Skim it to the exact part where the credits start to roll on the play bar. He knows exactly where it is.

My brother Michael never did any of the above. He is nine years older than me and fully autistic. Or Mentally Handicapped if you like. Whatever term you prefer. He does none of this. Never did. He would hand you glasses or a bag of chips and then just sit there. He never interacted. Never looked at you. My parents put him in a home when he was 15 cause he was so violent they couldn't handle him. He learned some small skills there. But no where near the skills that Scott has.

So its for those reasons I believe Scott to not be full autistic. He might have some sort of mild learning disorder, or an extreme case of stubbornness. I'll give that. But full autistic? No way. I don't buy it. I've seen autistic kids and adults practically all my life and he's nowhere near that.

I find it difficult to explain this to people. I get upset sometimes when we are out and I see a two year old who can talk great and they flash us a look like "Well, my kid talks, whats wrong with yours?" People assume that cause he's 3 and not talking as much that he must be a retard. (Oh how I hate that term) For the same token I talk to people all the time who say their kids didn't talk till they were 4-6 years old and now you can't get them to shut up. They always say that exact same thing. "You can't get them to shut up." I know one day Scott will talk in a way we deem "normal." And I know he won't shut up. But no way will I ever tell him to. I want to hear what he has to say. A couple of months ago I was in a store and some kid was talking a lot. and her dad screamed at her to shut the fuck up. How I wanted to punch that mother fucker right in the face. I'd give anything for my kid to talk that much. Fuck you.

No. No way is he full autistic. I know its in my genes. It runs in my family. The dormant gene is somewhere in my blood. But Scott doesn't apply. He's too smart for it. My son Cody is too smart for it. I don't buy it. Schools and programs seem too protective in today's age. They are quick to label something and slap some medication on it. I'm going to go ahead and get the test done. And we'll see what is all said. I will do what is best for him. But I still know they are wrong. Scott will show them all. He'll prove it. In his own good time. This isn't hopeful blind parent talking. This is a person who has lived it and knows for sure.

T