"She Has Autism"

This afternoon Sam and I watched Mae play soccer with her team. A little blonde boy, who is also a player was seated nearby. Mae's and boy's soccer mentors took advantage when Mae chose to engage with him and suggested they pass the ball. With much encouragement they passed the ball a few times before Mae headed off to do something else. Sam explained to the little boy and his family, "She has autism." Hearing him explain his sister's behavior in a place where explanations aren't necessary struck me as funny. I laughed out loud.

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In retrospect, I realize Sam wants people to love his sister as he does. When Sam perceives her social cues are confusing, his job is to be her translator.

Sibling Alliance

This past weekend Sam and Mae conflicts were resolved at my expense. On Saturday, Sam teased Mae by withholding her butterfly fairy wings. After being ordered to return them, I saw the wings were mangled. Mae was still freaking out so I got out of the van and opened her door to see if I could fix them. I then slipped in mud. They both had a good laugh, butterfly wing incident forgotten.

The next day we returned from an overnight visit. Mae was tired and Sam was baiting her. I then slipped in a pile of dog poop. Once again, they had a good laugh and chanted, "Mommy stepped in poop! Mommy stepped in poop!" for what seemed like an eternity.

I might be on to something. I could learn some self-deprecating physical comedy techniques, perhaps I'll have success switching them from an arguement to a treaty. After all, it is pretty damn funny when people fall.

TOP Soccer

On Sunday we brought Mae to her first practice with TOP soccer. A few days ago when I told Sam about it he expressed concern, "What about her autism?" I explained TOP soccer is for kids like Mae.
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The event organizer asked Mae if she was excited to play soccer. I cried happy tears when she threw her arms in the air and exclaimed, "I play with the team!" We loved watching her on the field with the two college-aged mentors assigned to her. She laughed, hummed and connected with the other players. It was fun seeing her so thrilled and independent. All the while she was under the watchful eyes of her brother.

A-Mae-zing

Within the past month, Mae has shown significant progress with self-care. She wants to do it herself and she does it well. Tonight as we got ready for bath, she neatly placed her dirty clothes in the hamper and climbed into the tub on her own. I said, "Mae, I'm so proud of you. You are good at doing things for yourself. You are my a-Mae-zing Mae" She smiled, did a happy wiggle and said, "I'm a lot of things." She's right.

Skid School

Wow. In a Volvo, I matted the accelerator for over 100ft, then slammed on the brakes as hard as I could. Our next drill was speeding through a series of of cones without touching the brakes. Then we combined the two to simulate having something appear in front of you suddenly. The goal was to break, swerve and recover. It all took place on a closed course at Stowe Mountain Resort. The scenery was gorgeous! Not only was it super cool for me, Mae had fun running around outside. Sam drove through some of the obstacle course. He had someone accelerate and break for him, but he was pretty good at the steering wheel.

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Dave and Sam were treated to a few runs down the Alpine Slide. Not a treat for me. We offered Mae a ride with her Daddy, she declined. When she changed her mind, they were already on the chairlift. They were on top of the mountain and could hear her screaming. Not wanting her to feel left out, we decided to take her on a run. Going up on the chairlift went fine. Waiting in line to go down was awkward, but manageable. Sitting in the sled she wanted to face me, like a monkey baby with her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. This is not allowed for safety reasons, and I couldn't contain her. Thankfully Dave was behind me. I gave up and passed her back over my head to him. He was able to restrain her long enough to get them off the launching pad, then she enjoyed herself.

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We came home over the mountain road. It was the easiest ride of the day.

I Think I Understand

My friend Jennie often says she doesn't like going downtown because it makes her feel like a country bumpkin. I never understood this. Jennie saw Queen in concert! She saw Freddie Mercury rocking those hot pants. The "cool people" on Church Street have nothing on her.
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In the past month I've been in and out of Burlington often. Last month while navigating my van around a small gas station, I collided with a cement barricade and caused major damage to the passenger side. At the beginning of the month, trying to park in a tiny visitor garage I scuffed up against some one's car. When exiting the tiny garage I backed into the building and cracked my right tail light cover.
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Yesterday I experienced the final straw. The Deweychildren had an appointment downtown. At the end of their appointment, Mae was within eyeshot as I spoke with the provider about scheduling our next visit. Suddenly the fire alarm went off. Mae ran to me from the direction of the fire alarm pull, her arms outstretched as she shouted "Turn it off! Turn it off!" The building was evacuated. When firetrucks came Mae exclaimed, "Fire Trucks, Woo Woo!"
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I still enjoy going downtown. However, I now have a new appreciation for my friend Jennie's statement.

Why I'll Never Buy A New Couch

Her brother taught her this