One of the Hardest Conversations I've Ever Had
I'll be posting more about my recent trip to Europe over the coming weeks. However, one thing that happened yesterday stood out for me. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. My son, Danny, is one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. He's 18 and on the autism spectrum. He's very high-functioning, but like most kids on the spectrum he tends to get over-stimulated at times by things around him. The solution for most people on the spectrum is to "stim". For him, that's bouncing around, sometimes flapping his ears or arms, and grunting, sometimes to music. Sometimes it's just disengaging himself from the real world. Sometimes he does this with earphones, sometimes he does it without. All his life, I've tried to give him the space to do what he needs to do. I'll just try to let him know when it's an important time to pay attention. We didn't have any issues on the trip to Barcelona. On the way home, however, ...