We told him that everyone’s brains work differently, and that the way his works is called, “autism”. Cool right? Right. Later that day, Casey found “autism” on Brainpop.com where they gave a brief run down of what autism is. Fantastic. It’s settled. We’re good parents. We told him. He’s okay with it. Pats on backs and high fives all around.
Yesterday I wanted him to do his one piddly chore and instead he laid backwards over the couch and moaned, “my autism hurts.”
This morning as we struggled to get him ready for church, he took off naked into the bathroom to hide. Lance asked him what he was doing and he yelled, “I need some clothes! They can see my autism!”
Now I’m wondering if he thinks his autism is his scrotum, and if that’s the case, what the hell else is on Brainpop.com?!
Have you told your kid yet?
Lexi Mag 
hahahaha! We have not told Lily. To be fair though, Lily doesn't have a scrotum. Wait. . . is that not what it is? *deletes brainpop.com*
First of all, brainpop is the bomb. And OMG Tim and Moby RT me this am. Jealous?Second, I had no idea autism is on Brainpop (but what isn't, right?). I will be sending the sibling there asap.Third, horrifying/cute story: Said sibling used to think autism pretty much meant lack of speech skills. So, he's said things like "I had autism when i was a baby" (um…no) and "Your baby must have autism" (to complete stranger with baby that was – shocking – not talking). That went over well, as you can imagine.Fourth, I think Casey's on to something about the naked/autism connection. I'm being serious here. Maybe he was indicating an awareness of inappropriate social behavior. Summary: Great job, Mom!http://whac-a-mole-life.com@whacamolelife
BrainPop rocks. My oldest learned a lot more about his brother's autism from them than he did from us. He also Pre-diagnosed his ADHD before we did. Not sure what that says about us as parents…We're laying the groundwork for telling our son. The catch for us will be him asking who else has autism. Our friends haven't told their kids. So I feel like I need to crowd source it in some way…
Again with the making me laugh so I pee at work. Please post disclosures if something will be funny.We haven't told David anything yet. I really don't have plans to at this point. I'm not really sure when we'll wade into those waters.KimTheSimpsonSix.blogspot.com
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Love it. I needed a laugh this morning. You should ask him to describe, in his own words, what Autism is… and record it on video.
I heart him.
Then there's really no need.
This is very new to him. He's been not letting me in the bathroom when he goes either. Which is totally great, because I can't tell you how sick I am of seeing little boys' balls all of the time.
because scrotums are GROSS.
Casey hasn't asked if other kids have it. He knows his sister has Down syndrome, and that means her brain works differently, too. I think ALL of my boys think that having siblings with special needs is normal.
Sorry, Kim. I'll pay for the dry cleaning.I'm not sure it's the best idea. I just got a call from his SpEd teacher saying that he told her that he didn't have to do his work because he has autism. FFFFFFFFF.
That's a good idea. I'm afraid though it might just be a video with him telling you all about monarch butterflies.
He hearts you back. I haven't had the heart to tell him you got married though. He's going to be PISSED.
We have not had the autism conversation yet, due to maturity, but it is coming soon. Need to get a good kid book about it.But if I'd known that was my ticket to get this boy to have some modesty, I would have had the talk a LOOOOOONG time ago!!!
Too lazy to sign into my account but this post made my day! Casey is too funny!! Reminds me of when I was babysitting a little while ago and I made the kids pizza. Peyton asked if I had any special pizza for Abby, and said,"You have to make sure its cold because Abby has Down Syndrome." So I said,"I know she does!" And he asked,"Do YOU have Down Syndrome?" Cutest thing ever. Love how they think its all a typical thing and how nonjudgmental your kids are. –Alex Martinez
Oh my. I'm really trying hard not to laugh but I'm failing miserably.We haven't told the boys because I don't believe they are cognitively able to understand what it means. We talk about autism ALL. THE. TIME. and I tell Sam about it but so far it doesn't seem to have sunk in.
I think your boys are pretty awesome.
I am sorry, but this is too funny!!! Our son is 5, and he knows he has autism. To be fair, he knew he was different, and he would ask us why, so we agreed he should know. He calls it his "super power."
Muah hahah now my when my scrotum hurts I'm calling it my Autism. Do you remember that church talk where the lady introduced the family to the ward and went on and on about her husband's scrotum surgery and how much pain his scrotum caused him. Then when her husband gets up he says, "I have one word, Sternum!"
I love this! We didn't tell our son until he was 8. The only reason we waited for so long was we weren't sure if he would understand what it meant. But then last summer during an anti-bullying discussion at his summer camp, they went around in a circle and discussed what made them different. And he told everyone that he had Autism and that made it hard for him to play with others. So I guess he on another note I clearly need to check out brainpop.
My son Sam does the same thing with his older brother Max. "THIS IS MY BROTHER MAX. HE HAS AUUUTISM!" or sometimes he has, "THE AUTISM!"
I haven't told Child 1 because it just hasn't come up with him. I keep waiting and waiting and waiting…. I have a feeling he would act similarly. "My autism hurts, I can't go to school today," etc.It's actually come up with his brother, though, and I haven't told him anything other than "that's just what Child 1 does," or something vague.Yeah, I'm a mess.
Why am I laughing so hard? It shouldn't be funny, but it just is! Kids are the best!
Mom?
Who is this? Please bless that it isn't my mom.
Me thinks you may have the ADHD like me. Lets ride bikes.
I dig, "THE autism." We used to call Casey "The Casey". Because he demanded such a title.
This really isn't working out for us. Let that be a lesson in case you do get the idea to nut up and tell him. Right now he's "washing his autism"…and he's nowhere near a sink.I made that last part up. But you know what I mean.
Because, like me, you think scrotums are hilarious!
I think if it's always just out there, it's not going to be that big of a surprise. I don't know if Casey will ever truly "get it" beyond that he may or may not have a card to play when he wants to get out of something.I can't wait to see what he does when he REALLY learns the word "scrotum".
ahahahahh. That's too funny.
HAHAHA. We tell Max all the time that he has Down syndrome, is adopted, and is a different nationality than his sister. He doesn't seem to care. But then again, he just turned 3 and doesn't talk. So maybe one day he'll want to cover himself, too 😉
We did tell our daughter the summer before she went into 3rd grade. I wrote a blog piece about it a while back. I think it helped her to better understand herself and why she struggled with certain things, acted a certain way etc… She tried to play the autism card a few times with us as an excuse, but we shut that down pretty quickly and it didn't last long. Instead, she has truly embraced her identity and I fully expect her to be out there as a motivational speaker on living with autism. Here's the blog piece in case you want to check it out. http://ourpieceofthepuzzle.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/to-tell-or-not-to-tell/
That is a freaking awesome story. Casey's the greatest. Quentin knows he has autism/Ass burgers/whatever it is he actually has. He was bugged by always going to the behavioral therapist and wanted to know what the deal was. Then he wanted to know what his brain meds were for. I explained it kinda like you did–it means your brain works differently than other kids' brains do. That's why it's hard for you to x, y, and z. He's tried to use it as an excuse, too. It's tough, because where do we draw the line? Sometimes it just IS the autism. But I guess our main thing is, it might be a lot harder for him than it is for other kids, but he can do it.The school psychologist told me that last year in group social skills class, she asked him about his new baby brother. He said, "Yeah. He has Down syndrome, and it's NO LAUGHING MATTER." He totally didn't get what Ds was, but he knew it wasn't a joke….
Fifth: you make excellent points regarding scrotums (not scrofula — wth is that anyway, autocorrect?)
unless you're us…
We did tell our son, T, about his ASD. (he has Aspergers). He took it in stride, but of course it does occasionally become an excuse for poor behavior. "My autism made me do it." He's 5 1/2 now – I think we told him shortly before he turned 5. My daughter (now 7) – blames the ASD more than he does. (T's autism made him ___). Sometimes it's true… but sometimes it's just an excuse. The weirdest twist was when my daughter tried to lump our youngest in with the ASD thing – because of his Down syndrome. I forget what it was, but I remember thinking, "Okayyyy???" and then having to try to explain chromosomal differences vs. neurodevelopmental differences. (with a 7 year old!! I think she only pretended to follow along!!)Anyhow – I think my kiddos are headed towards presuming that everyone has someone with special needs in their family. Perhaps they'll be less likely to see people as "normal" vs. "special needs" and more as just people – with everyone having their own areas of strengths and weaknesses. The ultimate "inclusion" – wouldn't that be nice?!?
(Stopping by from finding the funny) Terrific! Kids are funny. And deep. On some level maybe his autism did hurt, and on some level maybe he was embarrassed that others could see it. –Mama Mzungu
Ha! That is hilarious. Autism is a better word than scrotum, right? Scrotum. It's kind of an ugly word. Your post made me laugh! (Thanks for linking up with us over at #findingthefunny!)