Some People Go to Disney

The summer is a little rough for those who have kids on the spectrum.  Vacation pictures abound.  I know people like to call Facebook ...Fakebook or Phototopia...  because they can't be having NON-stop fun at that beach vacation.  Can they?  I tell myself they aren't writing about the hemorrhoid that is causing them great pain as they bounce around on the tube behind the boat.

But still I have to confess a bit of jealousy when I see all the fun people are having.  Yea. Summers are rough.  Long vacations are just a little difficult with kids on the spectrum.

But tonight I had an exceptional experience sharing moment with my kid.  Several in fact.  Experience sharing is a term used in RDI (and child development) but it is self explanatory.  It is just sharing.. no agenda.. no skills involved.. no pressure.. just sharing.  With spectrum kids it doesn't necessarily happen automatically.

Kid will be thirteen soon and when I looked in the mirror this morning, he shot up higher than me.  I told him certainly he could ride in the front seat.  You would have thought I said, "we are going to Disney!!!"  He was so geeked.  And it was so much fun.  He sat in the front, we opened up the sunroof and stuck our hands through the top.

And.. then we came across a mama and her baby deer crossing a fairly busy road.  I yelled GRAB THE PHONE!!!  TAPE IT!!!  You can see a wee bit of the last baby deer off to the right of this video and you can hear just a small bit of what 'experience sharing' was all about for us tonight.



We kept driving and were able to find the dairy free soft serve place in Birmingham after driving around the block several times.  And we parallel parked right in front!  Bonus.  Thank you Jesus.  (He does care about the little things.)  We had never been there and so it was .. an experience.  It was loud and crowded and we were both a little overwhelmed but it was fun.  Kid gave the ice cream itself a so-so review.  It was more about the experience for him.

On the way home I'm pretty sure I saw Matthew Perry or his doppelganger coming out of the Townsend Hotel.  (There are a lot of movies shot in Detroit.. so it is possible.)  I tried to share this with the kid  but he could care less!

And the stars.  The ones in the sky.  There is a bright one out tonight.  I think it is Venus.  We had to come home to open our iPad app to find out, but it was one more thing to share.

And just so you know, when we got home, and he headed straight to the computer!  I guess he was done.

But I am thankful.. I am blessed.. and #sometimesitsthelittlethings.


Anyway... just sharing.