One Of Hundreds Of Dandelions

   Autism and repetitive behaviors go hand in hand.  Repetition is a major part of our lives and used to almost hold us prisoner but over the years Phillip has been able to cope with changes more and more.  I couldn’t imagine three years ago a repetitive behavior would ever be something I loved and hoped would stay with us for a long time but that is the case now.

   When the dandelions began to bloom a few months ago a new behavior did too.  Each day, when we get home from Easter Seals, he asks if he can knock on the door and I go inside without him.  A few moments later he will ring the doorbell and I wait just a minute so he has time to run.  Once I open the door he is in his hiding spot barely peeking out to watch me.  I of course pretend to be confused because no one is there and each time find a tiny dandelion placed on the center of the door step.  I pick up the dandelion and make sure he sees I am surprised someone left a flower and shut the door.  He runs to the door and I open it to find him with a huge smile on his face because every day he feels he has tricked me once again.  I thank him for the flower and he walks in extremely happy with himself and happy he made me smile. 

   This sounds like just a little boy having fun and YES he is! It’s also mixed together with his repetitive nature because on days the dandelions aren’t blooming we still do this only he will improvise.  I might open the door to an orange soda, a toy, or one day last week it was one of his shoes.  It is something he absolutely has to do before he comes inside 98% of the time. The only thing that stops him is a heavy rain.

   Most of the time I try to help him get past a repeat behavior or eventually he changes things on his own and moves on to a new repeat. When the dandelions go away in the fall he won't be able to do this the way he is able to now.  With that on my mind, today I made sure to take a picture of that dandelion, one of hundreds of them.  I know one day he will just stop doing this and I also know one day he won’t be a little boy anymore and I will miss both of these things very much.