A good question

This afternoon while my son and I were at Target I had a nice exchange with the cashier. He was a pleasant guy who seemed very friendly. While we were being rung up for our purchase he noticed that Nick was vocally stimming. Stimming, or self-stimulatory behaviors, are practices common with autistic children. They are behaviors that an autistic person uses repetitively to soothe him or herself. My boy stims vocally more than any other way. He makes sounds, sometimes not so quietly, that often attracts the stares of people while were out in public. Today he was making this sound that kind of sounds like a rooster.. it's cute and just his thing. The checker noticed him doing it and I noticed him reacting to the sound Nick was making. He didn't stare at him with a dumbfounded look like I've seen others do but seemed curious about the noise. He asked me if he could ask me a question. He was curious if Nick was special needs. Because he asked it in such a respectful way I talked to him briefly about it. I told him that he was indeed autistic and yes, he was quite special. He apologized and said that he really shouldn't be asking people personal questions but really was curious. That kind of respectful curiosity always makes me want to answer whatever it is people want to know. I much prefer that to the the occasional stare or judgemental look that comes our way.

I don't make it a practice to talk to strangers about anything truly personal. In no way and I mean NO possible way am I ashamed of my child. My main reason that I don't discuss Nick's autism with people I don't know very often is that I don't want to draw attention to it. My wish for him is to have him blend in as much as possible with others his age. That's not the same as trying to hide his disorder. It's merely my way of wanting to see my child flourish in a world where questions regarding his behavior aren't always as respectful.

All I say can say about anyone who judges Nick before they get to know him and fails to appreciate how incredible he is -- it's your loss, buddy.