The little developing mind

I had a really good weekend with Simon. Honestly, I needed that, because I feel like I've been very impatient with him, and he doesn't deserve any hostility from me. Diana worked Friday night and Sunday afternoon, so we had some good time together. Saturday, all of us went to Magic Kingdom for a few hours, which was somewhat challenging because he's not adapting to crowded situations lately, unfortunately (another marathon weekend, lots of people).

The biggest part of our bonding was around the construction of a new Lego set that I bought, the Fairground Mixer. It's a brilliant design, an amusement ride that folds up and mounts on a truck. This is the third such guilty pleasure I've bought in the last five years, one of the expensive sets intended for adults. I don't buy a lot of "toys" anymore (in the literal or figurative sense), and like many people, Lego was a part of growing up. For me it was one of the most fond memories I have of my childhood.

I've done some building with Simon on one of the newer "junior" sets, and he did pretty well. His fine motor skills are still not great, but he's able to put small pieces together. He seems to get the spacial relationships in the instructions, too, though he isn't very confident. On something like the mixer, obviously he's not ready for that, but he sits with me and does the kinds of things you might expect from an ASD kid. He picks out the wheels and stacks them up (he did an unprompted stack of Luigi's tires from Cars, which was awesome). He also pulled out all of the seats and organized them by color.

When it was finally finished, he had no interest in watching it operate with the motor, preferring to crank it around by hand and watch how it works. Imaginative play is still not his strong suit, he can spend hours watching how something works, and I do think he's taking it in and understanding. It's fascinating to see how that little brain is working.

I see so much development, which is a constant cause for relief and concern. While his writing is dreadfully behind, we notice him reading words more and more. He doesn't seem to understand the act of coloring is to shade in an area, but he'll watch one of my roller coaster videos frame by frame to find the brakes and point out how the kicker wheels move the train in to the station.

I think it's hard for us to just take it for granted that he'll figure it all out, and I'm sure he will, because we don't want him to get behind. That's a thing that sticks with a kid even after he's "caught up." There's clearly a brilliant kid in there, even if he's not "neurotypical," as they say. Hopefully we're helping him develop that brilliance.