Lynn, I won't actually take that bet. I was remembering some of my own childhood experiences as an Aspberger's kid. I can recall numerous instances where my rather impatient mother would get flustered by what I thought was play, and I'd end up getting yelled at without any idea what I'd done wrong, just that Mom was mad at me. I certainly sympathize with your frustration at your child, who thinks Mommy looks and sounds funny when she's really angry at what he's done.
Someone - I have unfortunately forgotten who - uses or did use a sig which stated that her superpower was that she was raising an autistic child. Another one I've seen is that if you've seen one autistic child, you've seen one autistic child. The message is that every child is different.
And that's true.
Many years ago, I took our two sons to a baseball game at The Ballpark In Arlington (it has some commercial name now) to see the Rangers play a Friday night game, along with about forth-five thousand other fans. The Rangers got clobbered. When we left, I expressly told both boys to follow me and stay close behind me. I repeated these instructions more than once. Both boys nodded and repeated those instructions back to me.
The result? The younger son (about eleven at the time) turned his own way and got lost. I looked around to see half the number of boys I expected to see, so I told the older one to remain beside the sidewalk where he was and hold onto a marker of some kind while I looked for his brother.
I found him. And in the course of walking to the place where I'd left the older boy, the younger one turned and went his own way again. If I hadn't been waiting for that move I'd still be searching for him. I had to grip his hand to keep him with me.
And he's not autistic. We had him tested. He had some indications of being ADD, but nothing else.
So, even allegedly "normal" kids will send their parents up and over the wall at times.
I hope that you stay patient with your son. It's very hard, I know, but one day it will all seem worth it. I can't tell you when, of course, but I'm positive that the day will come.
