Saying ‘bye bye’

For almost two years we have been teaching HRH how to wave and say ‘bye bye’. Yes, almost 2 years. He just hasn’t been able to do it. It was something that particularly bothered me when he was about a year old. That and the fact that he couldn’t clap. It took us 8 months to teach him how to clap and he did it for about 2 weeks and then forgot how. The skill just vanished.

Of course now I understand why. The diagnosis of autism has given a home to a lot of my niggling concerns.

In the last few weeks he has discovered waving and saying ‘bye bye’. He doesn’t always do it appropriately yet, but he is so funny when he does it that I can easily forgive him. He puts so much effort in the waving bit that it looks like he is trying to shake his hand off.

He doesn’t like saying goodbye to someone who is leaving because he doesn’t want them to go. When they are gone he will say it, but then nobody believes me that he can actually do it.He also stands at the front window waving and saying bye bye to passing cars and random strangers.

He has a new skill and he wants to use it, show it off, but only on his own terms!

Jen Cull

The King and Eye

Mum of 3 great children, one of whom has autism. Wife, taxi service, blogger, cook and chief bottle washer in my *spare* time