Autism and the Tooth Fairy
It’s a rite of passage isn’t it? When you turn 6-or-7 years old you start getting those wiggly teeth and you twist and twist and twist…and your older sibling tells you they’ll tie string around the tooth and the door knob and yank it.
Eventually the tooth falls out (a few tears maybe) but you’ve made it! You lost your first tooth…now collect the $$$ from the Tooth Fairy.
My 6-year-old son has a loose tooth. He doesn’t understand what that means. He won’t understand the whole “tie a string and I’ll pull it” concept. He probably doesn’t even realize his tooth is hanging literally by a thread.
Have I mentioned that I don’t like autism?!
No fair! Once again…autism has robbed my precious boy of the fun little aspects of being a child. We only realized he had a loose tooth when he would really fight and squirm and squeal when we tried brushing his teeth. We looked in his mouth…AND THE ADULT TOOTH IS ALREADY GROWING IN!
Seriously, how is that not painful!
But he certainly won’t let us put our fingers in his mouth. He’s not playing with it or twisting it or doing anything to get it out…so I guess one day it’ll just fall out and he’ll more than likely swallow it or spit it out and it’ll be gone.
Crud, now autism is taking away the joys of motherhood from my wife…I mean whose mother doesn’t have all their baby teeth in a jar somewhere? (ick!)
Aside from that, he doesn’t have a concept of a dollar so it really won’t matter if we put anything under his pillow (now, now, of course we’ll do it anyways).
Just when you think there are visions of “typical-ness” it’s odd little events like a loose tooth that splash cold water on your face as if to say “SNAP OUT OF IT!”
gee…thanks for the reminder
And so it goes…
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I understand how you feel. Being a parent, you want to share all the fun things you did as a child. It’s tough when your kids are either dead set against it, or simply not interested. This happens with NT kids, too. I don’t know where on the spectrum your son is, but I’m sure you’ll find your own little traditions that are completely unique to your family. They may not be as magical as the tooth fairy, but even your daily routine is something that you can treasure. It is yours. I’m sure under all the layers, there is a part of your son that relies on and treasures those things too. They might be more practical, more concrete, but the things you do every day show your son just how much you love him.
I don’t see your problem, it’s just a tooth. I am sure there will be more important milestones. I know my daughter lost her teeth, but I’m not sure if my wife put money under her pillow; I know I used to get money when I was at home, but tooth fairies don’t visit boarding schools.