About this blog.

My son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at 24 months. I created this blog to bring meaning to the often-confusing label. Sometimes I have answers. Other times, just more questions.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Brad-Ism

"I've got a wedgie, mommy."

-Brad, informing me that his shirt tag was uncomfortably rubbing the nape of his neck.

I know this is what he was trying to convey because he gestured to the tag, not his underwear.

Brad has a point. The tag is a clothing-induced source of discomfort. And they say our kids have weak generalization skills.

And while we're on the topic, why isn't there a word for the uncomfortable sensation a tag creates? Maybe our children aren't language-impaired. Maybe our language is autism-impaired. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

TGIF.

7 comments:

JD in TLH said...

Good for him (and you!). This reminds me of a conversation between my son and his speech therapist. He was eating a purple popsicle and she said, "What does that taste like? Does it taste like grape?". He looked at her quizzically and said, "No, it tastes like popsicle". Well said, young man!

BTW, love your blog, I identify so much with your situation and feelings. My son loves your videos of Brad, he always asks me to "play the little boy video AGAIN".

Hope you have a great weekend!

Laura said...

ha! Cute story, and thanks for the note. How old is yours?

Brenda Rothman (Mama Be Good) said...

I LOVE the wedgie! Well, not getting one, but you know. Some of my funniest moments are the words that Jack repurposes, some appropriate, most not so much, all funny. xo

JD in TLH said...

He just turned four a few weeks ago.

I'm such a notorious lurker, but my sister berated me for this behavior. I told her about a blog that I followed where the author had decided to quit and how disappointed I was because I really enjoyed the blog. She said, "well, did you ever post a comment to let her know that?". Of course, I hadn't, so I decided I would start being a little less of a lurker and tell bloggers when their posts hit home.

Judith U. said...

I alway say my tag is biting me .. because it is!

Nyx said...

I kept telling my son not to eat or lick weird things because they were "dirty." So now everything he can't have is dirty. And it has expanded to be everything that isn't working properly or isn't doing what he wants. It's become a kind of curse word. Microphone won't come on? "Dirty microphone!" Er, Mommy won't let him nurse? "Dirty num nums!"

Nyx said...

ps -- that claim that they can't generalize is crap. My son generalizes everything. I think what he has a hard time with is figuring out what words mean that do not have a concrete object or motion or other tangible, observable quality to them. So it has been a struggle for him I think to figure out yes and no, since that involves abstract notions like "truth" and "accuracy." But I think he makes up his own abstractions, it's just hard for him to catch on to OUR abstractions, because it's hard for him to make that leap simply based on what we say in the rest of the sentence. I suspect this is due to some auditory processing issues and possibly working memory. But he has rapidly learned anything I actually SHOW him. He is finally catching on to yes and no, but I think first you know he had to be able to a) understand the other words in the question; and of course b) know the right answer! Maybe other "autistic" or "spectrum" children can't generalize, I shouldn't generalize myself, but it's just not true of my son, nor obviously yours either. Do I recall some bunny rabbits watching tv? That whole lack of imagination thing is crap too. My son is not even 3 yet and he makes up songs, I kid you not, and adds himself as a character to every story we tell.