Tears

T ended up entertaining himself for much of the afternoon & evening yesterday. He usually comes home from the verbal behavior school and watches a video while having a snack, after working hard all day. I am either napping on the couch near him or on the computer tending to stuff - and yesterday, it was paying bills, balancing accounts, etc. This took longer than usual, so I really didn't interact with him much before dinner. After dinner, Rob & I watched the news and then enjoyed a post-dinner conversation, so T was still just entertaining himself. He does this most evenings after dinner by walking an invisible circuit around the kitchen & family room. Only last night, I think he had been alone too long, and felt it...around 7:15, he stopped by the fridge, looked at me & Rob, and started to frown. The lower lip started quivering, and tears built up in his eyes. Nearly broke our hearts. We asked him what was wrong, and he did make some sounds - his jibberish that sounds SO much like words - and once again, I wished so desperately that he could talk and tell us what was making him cry. So I took a guess, asked him if he was bored & lonely, gave him a big hug, and took him into the family room where we played with bubbles and the thunder tubes his grandparents gave him a few weeks ago. Before long, he was smiling and laughing, and all was well.

Okay, so I think it is reasonable to assume that he was wanting our company - that he was bored and lonely after all. I thought kids with autism weren't supposed to be social, that they preferred to be alone and were completely self-absorbed in their own world. NOT MY KID!!! He does have those tendencies some of the time, but clearly not all the time.

I just love this little guy.