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Rain kid (from series Rain kid)

Before my son was born, I had been interested in the topic of autism for twenty years. But this, as it turned out, has nothing in common with being autistic ch...
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Before my son was born, I had been interested in the topic of autism for twenty years. But this, as it turned out, has nothing in common with being autistic child’s parent. I had to learn everything from scratch. At first, like many parents had, there was a strong desire to change my child, to make him like everyone else. But, lucky for me, that desire quickly disappeared. I very clearly understood that these children, once they get diagnosed, lose their right to be themselves. Everyone keeps trying to change them with the help of different therapies, supplements and so on. While other (neurotypical) children simply live, children with ASD are being taken to occupational therapy sessions, to speech therapist and many other specialists. So they lose their childhood. We decided to give up all of this, and let the child live as he wants; not to change him but change ourselves, try to understand and enter his world. Every day he reveals us a new understanding of everything that surrounds us.
Our child develops independently, he is verbal, but chose not his native Lithuanian, but English. So he opened up new opportunities in the world of Internet where he finds absolutely all the necessary information.
What I envy him the most is his freedom from the rules. Our rules do not exist for him; he has the right to create his very own way. Many autistic individuals think in images, my son is not an exception. To open the door to his world, one needs pictures. So I create them.
5. He sleeps with adults, resting his head on their chest or stomach or throat. Contact is very essential.
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