As always the first thing I want to do is wish everyone a wonderful evening. I am also always appreciative of the people reading the blog post here. For me it has been therapeutic; and for those of you reading it has hopefully been informative.

One of the signs of autism is a child's lack of social abilities. This doesn't just necessarily mean the lack of a social calendar because of the lack of friends. Most autistic children appear "different" and "weird" to their peers and therefore do not have many friends. It also means that these children have a hard time expressing their feelings and appear to not have empathy. Many may even believe that an autistic child does not have the ability to love. Well, my Sir Dantes proves that wrong!

Follow up:

For the longest time he would refuse to be held. He fought and fought; he punched and squirmed to get away. Now, he gives hugs and kisses! This has been going on for quite some time now. His little face will just light up when he sees me come home from work. So, although he doesn't say "I love you", I know he does.

But, tonight he did something that just warmed my heart! I wish to share it with you.

We have a nightly routine (which is very important for these special children). We have supper, play for a bit, have a bath, brush teeth, get in jammies, pick up the toys, read a book, and then get tucked in. For the longest time I have been putting a couple of boyish-type teddy bears on his bed. He always threw them off and instead replaced the bears with books or a hard plastic toy, like a play flashlight. Anyway, it always something which had no "people-like" traits.

Later in the evening, after I had tucked the children in, I went to go check on them. And what did I see? He had taken two of his teddy bears and tucked them in. He had their heads on his pillow and had the blanket pulled up to their necks. It was the sweetest thing.

These precious children do have feelings and empathy. You just have to find out the best way to help them express it. Good luck everyone!

Goodnight,
Sherri