I got a phone call at the office today. Today, my youngest was watching TV, and when the TV asked him who he was, he answered it back. He then went on to participate in the other segments of the program -- singing, moving, jumping. I am at once thrilled that my youngest is participating, and sad because he is participating in a way that his elder brother is yet to do.
Autism is an isolating condition. In our case, the vast majority of children we have any significant exposure to are also challenged in some way. And when compared to this set of children, my eldest does very well. He has potential that some of them don't, has learned things some of them have not.
But every so often I get a snapshot of life in the neurotypical world -- a child wearing the same jacket as my eldest, who explains to me that his birthday is only six weeks before my son's. An interaction that I've never had with my son.
Sometimes it is a wonder how quickly children develop, but sometimes I fear the gap my son is facing is only increasing, no matter how hard he works.
