So, with all of my sketchy blogging habits, as of late, you may or may not have noticed the lack of posts about The Boy…well, more specifically, The Asperger’s. Basically, I just got to a point where I needed to reevaluate what I write about The Boy, out of concerns for his privacy. Turns out, he is not all that concerned about his privacy. I, however, am. But after giving it a lot of thought, I have come to the conclusion that while there are some aspects of The Boy’s life that are not made for blog fodder, that I will still be able to find a balance. With that said, I wanted to share this…
The Boy and I were alone in the car the other day, when the topic of Asperger’s came up. It was a long and winding conversation that I won’t recount completely but I want to share my favorite part. The question of, “Do you want your Asperger’s to be ‘cured’?”was presented. After some thought, The Boy mentioned that there were some aspects of his AS that he wishes could be lessened. (I made a mental note that he never said “go away”….just “made less”.) We talked about those things for a few minutes. We talked about things that he could do to help lessen the difficulties they cause him. The conversation trailed off. He was quiet for a minute. Then he said this…
No, I don’t want to be “cured”….’cause if I didn’t have Asperger’s, I would be just like everyone else. If I were “normal” I wouldn’t be unique. I want to be unique!”
Right on.
And, Oh! is he unique. Case in point…in his head he see/hears Asperger’s as ASS-BURGERS. He said he thinks that we should make one of those magnetic awareness ribbons for our car with a butt and a hamburger on it. Erm…yeah…I’ll get right on that. 
But for every moment like the one I just shared, there are also moments of struggle. So I know I will have plenty more to unload share in the future.
And thanks to all of you who have been supporting, and encouraging, and rooting for The Boy all along.
Once again, all of these pictures were taken by the lovely and talented Lynsey Peterson.
15 responses so far ↓
1 kristen // Jun 18, 2008 at 11:07 am
Mel, I forget how old your son is, but I love how you both can have this conversation. My son will be 7 in October, but every time I try to ease into a conversation about his differences, he changes the subject. I guess he’s just not ready yet. And the privacy issue? I’m thinking about it all the time now.
2 Shash // Jun 18, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I had the same conversation with my son about my blog, his Asperger’s and whether he wanted to be “cured”. He has said pretty much the same thing as The Boy. I think it is incredibly cool that they don’t want to be normal and that they understand that it is a part of them, intertwined.
Sometimes they understand things way better than “normal” people do.
Makes me wish The Boy and Spiff could meet. I bet they would be good friends.
Shash
3 Melissa // Jun 18, 2008 at 3:11 pm
What beautiful heart. Both of my children have
difficulties in life…not because of a diagnosed problem… but because they don’t “fit in”.. and sometimes that hurts… they march to their own
drum… but kids as well as adults are more comfortable with conformity. How sad…. they miss out on knowing a wonderful person and having a loyal friend…
4 Stacie // Jun 18, 2008 at 4:08 pm
It’s good to see the little guy can realize that “different” can be a good thing and not always bring up a negative connotation. We all can learn from that, I guess. He sure is growing up fast.
5 jen // Jun 18, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Don’t you love the grown up conversations like this where what they say makes you feel proud. I feel proud just having read his comments about his uniqueness. That’s something that not many people would feel at that age I don’t think.
What’s he doing with his blog? I miss it.
6 Kimberly // Jun 19, 2008 at 11:03 am
Once again, those pictures are amazing!
7 christine // Jun 19, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I’m glad to see that you’re back to blogging. The Boy is what brought me here initially, your blogging about him made me feel not so alone with my son’s difficulties. It’s not something I’ve blogged much about, but not feeling so alone helped me to talk about it, which has given me a wonderful support system. My Matthew’s AS traits are so much a part of his personality that I wouldn’t want it “cured” either; it’s more of wanting help in helping him cope with the difficult parts of it. Your son is so wise. And I love his awareness ribbon idea…hysterical!
8 Nicki // Jun 19, 2008 at 6:19 pm
He definitely IS unique, for sure! And he’s perfect just the way he is! It would be nice though if life were a little easier on him, huh…
9 Lynsey // Jun 20, 2008 at 2:17 am
You are a good, good Mama.
And is a lucky boy who is a delight to hang with, a great big brother, and a wonderfully talented child. When you find the line where you share some and yet not too much, please let me know–I’ve been looking for it for years.
10 Andrew Flusche // Jun 20, 2008 at 2:38 am
It looks like you have a wonderful family! And those are some great pictures! I just can’t get over how awesome they are.
11 LifeAsIKnowIt // Jun 20, 2008 at 3:08 am
What an insightful boy.
Wonderful photos!
12 s'mee // Jun 20, 2008 at 5:14 am
Ah, coming to the party late…I’ve wack lately and without my computer and links..augh! Any who, I’m all caught up and what lovely posts!
Photos are amazing! Kids: more amazing! And that hubby of yours? what a lucky family you have!
13 Amanda // Jun 24, 2008 at 9:56 pm
he is absolutely adorable. The pictures once again are fantastic!
14 Dory // Jun 26, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I’m breaking my self-inflicted comment embargo to say that today The Boy is my hero.
15 mamatulip // Jul 1, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I am all sorts of teary after reading this. Your boy is amazing, and so are you.
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