When obsessions go askew.

We have an emerging obsession in our house with my non-verbal 26 month old, The King. I have heard of this in children with autism, but this is my first time watching one grow, as he was just diagnosed recently. Any strong interests he had prior to this I just didn't see them developing.

It started slowly with an interest in letters. He displayed a particular fondness for the letter O. B followed and D is now fighting for attention, but he has moved onto being more interested in full words.

He is able to recognise quite a few words now, a lot of them learned from the language building DVDs we bought. The rest he has picked up from his favourite books and the sleeves of DVDs. He spends ages browsing through his books and DVDs, therefore I spend ages browsing through books and DVDs with him, reading the words out to him. He points (yes, he points!) to the word he wants to hear. He loves to wear t-shirts and sweatshirts with writing on them and has favourites.






Yesterday, I wore a sweatshirt that I have not worn in quite a while. It's a short sweatshirt. I hate the gap between waistband and sweatshirt when I sit down so I tend to go for longer, cosier tops. I am just too old to be trendy and put up with a draught on my back! So this sweatshirt doesn't come out too often. It's grey with orange writing on it.

The King fell in love. He rubbed it, he hugged it, he kissed it and spent a lot of happy time pointing at the letters and getting me to read them out. He even rubbed it with his bare feet at one point. He was enthralled with the 'new' word.

How could this be a problem? I hear you cry. Picture the scene:


Spring is here and a mother brings her toddler out for a walk. He has a very specific ritual to be followed while walking (that is another posting) but skip the initial 10 min's and mother and toddler end up at the street name signs. The street name just happens to include the letters O, B and D. The child spends many happy minutes pointing at letters, squealing and flapping his hands in excitement. The mother watches over him, enjoying his excitement. She notices a group of teenagers approaching, about 14 or 15 years of age.

One of the girls is wearing a trendy tracksuit, discreet makeup and is beautifully accessorized. The tracksuit has a short jacket and the Mum shudders at the thought of the draught on the childs' back. The young girl is tall and thin, in only the way teenage girls can be. She has put a lot of effort into looking like she just threw the clothes on and ran out the door. She is a lively girl, chatting and laughing with her friends. As the group approach the Mum and toddler the girl turns around to walk backwards, telling a story to her friends. The Mum freezes.................

OH DEAR GOD................the word 'Hottie' is scrawled across her bum........................

Those of you who are parents of children with autism know that this situation could actually happen. It is highly likely that The King will feel somebody up someday, in pursuit of his love of words. At 26 months he will get away with it and although I will be very embarrassed, I will laugh too. Its hard not to laugh sometimes.

To all other readers - If you are the person The King approaches please do not be offended. He is short at the moment. I promise I will do my utmost to teach him about social boundaries before he can reach chest height.