"Be Careful Daddy!"

Those of you who know William know that he talks but he’s at times difficult to understand–okay, much of the time he’s difficult to understand. That is one of the HUGE issues with children with autism–communication. So many times Melanie and I get so frustrated because William will be totally melting down and crying and just so upset because he’s trying to communicate with us and we just can’t understand him. I know that happens with typical children as well…but it’s harder with a child on the spectrum. His speech has improved greatly over the past year and we’re so grateful for that and so hopeful for what is to come…but while he will say things or will answer our questions, rarely does he initiate talk with spontaneous talk. Until today! I’m not saying we’ve cleared a hurdle and will never struggle…but this morning as I was standing on the kitchen counter to change a lightbulb (yes, I can change a lightbulb thank you very much) William just blurted out “Be careful daddy!” Do you know what that means and what that represents? Some might not get it but to me it’s so huge…he actually initiated a conversation. He realized that I was standing on the counter and reaching to replace the lightbulb and that there was an element of danger. Now it would’ve been really cool if he would’ve said, “Be careful daddy, you are already dressed for work and you don’t want to wrinkle your shirt”…we’ll work on that. For now…it’s a great start! Read original post