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Tuesday, May 5, 2009

If My Son Ruled the World









NoFood
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I was looking through Austen's school papers this week and found an exercise he had done describing what things would be like if he ruled the world. He had filled in blanks to complete several sentences, one of which read: "If I ruled the world, there would be no..." And before I read his answer, I thought about the kinds of things I'd want to do away with if I ruled the world: war, disease, abuse, famine... All the things a nice, neurotypical adult abhors.

Then I read Austen's answer: the answer of an autistic eight-year-old boy who hates to eat, who hates new tastes and textures in his mouth, who is a confirmed neophobe and resistant eater. Yes, next to "If I ruled the world, there would be no..." Austen had neatly printed the word "food."

I love him very much, but given my own strong anti-famine stance, I don't think I'll be voting for him for world ruler anytime soon.
Posted by at 4:11 AM
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9 comments:

  1. but - so good to see the view from his perspective - although I do like food, more than I should probably!
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  2. My son would vote for him!!!
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  4. Um, I'm a total foodie, so as much as I adore your son (whom I've never met, but then again I didn't meet Obama either and I voted for him) I wouldn't vote for him to be Grand Poobah of the World either. No offense. ;)

    Smooch.
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  5. He sounds like my youngest who walks through the supermarket, whispering "yuck" at each and every food item that catches his eye. He only whispers it because I tell him he might hurt someone's feelings if he says it loud.

    He would probably vote for your son.

    My 7 year old who has severe asthma often says she wishes humans didn't need to breath--always hurts my heart when she says it. Its the little things that show us how deeply our kids feel about things, huh?
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  6. My younger son, Aidan, who is 12 and severely orally defensive, has actually said the same thing. It pains me to see how difficult eating is for him. We're going to be seeing a therapist about it soon. Tell Austen there are other people out there who understand!
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  7. That is so interesting! I bet each child would have a different answer, autistic or not. But yeah....I'm not in any hurry to get rid of food either.
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  8. What an honest response! It made me smile. Ah, if we could only see the world through a child's eyes :)
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  9. So cute. Our houseguest tonight often talks about her autistic nephew. She says he hates eating too...
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